The Antichrist
by lucifersfavoritechild75
Summary: Adrienne Morgenstern had an ordinary life. Just a college student with a good boyfriend and loving family. Then the angels came. With her family dead, and herself hunted, Adrienne is sure she's going to die, until she's saved by a fallen angel who tells her the truth. She is Lucifer's daughter. She is the Antichrist. (minor Destiel, non-explicit sex)
1. Part One — Chapter One

Part One: Dark One

Chapter One: Pain

* * *

 _ _March 22nd, 2011__

The sun beat down on Adrienne's back and head, making her orange shirt the color of a sunrise. She only saw a few people as she walked across campus to the parking lot. Over half the students had left yesterday for Spring Break, but Adrienne had to work then and couldn't leave until today.

Heer phone rang - a cheerfully generic acoustic guitar riff. She answered it without checking who it was as she swung the door of her small white car open. "Hello?"

"Hey Adrienne." She grimaced as she heard Adam's voice out of the speaker. Adrienne hated speaking over phone, the way it made people's voices sound, if she could hear them at all.

"What do you want, Adam?"

"Jeesh. I don't see you in one day, and already you hate me. Is there someone else?"

"Just answer the question," She replied, rolling my eyes.

"Just wanted to see if you'd left yet."

"I'm turning on the car now." The engine roared to life as she spoke, phone wedged in between her ear and shoulder.

"I'll let you go then. Drive safe, love you."

"Love you too. See you in a few days." She hung up before he could respond.

* * *

Vetis watched from under the shade of a tree as Adrienne pulled out. He smiled at the car as it sped away, marbled red eyes hungry with anticipation. He waved at the fading dot.

"Bye Adrienne!" __I'll see you soon.__

Across the courtyard, someone with dark brown hair and eyes looked at the strange man standing under the tree. He looked down at his phone, then back up. When he did, the man was gone.

"Weird," Adam muttered to himself.

* * *

The drive from school to Adrienne's parent's house was only two hours. Still, her bones ached and her legs were stiff as she walked up to the door.

The house wasn't huge by any means, but it was nice. Two stories with three bedrooms, a parlor, and two baths. Rather plain, to be honest. No outside decoration except for a few bushes at either side of the door. The paint was a plain white with black shutters. Adrienne rang the doorbell and knocked a couple of times. When a minute passed and no one answered, she repeated the action. Still no answer.

Adrienne sighed and dug through my purse for a spare set of keys, muttering under her breathe. The lock made a satisfying click, and she stepped inside.

The entryway and living room, both painted in a soothing blue with pale floral prints hung on the walls, were empty. She took her shoes off and put them next to the door, figuring she could put them in her room later. "Mom? Dad?" No one answered. Their cars were in the driveway, so she knew they were home. And Zac should've been home for break.

Adrienne started to panic, her naturally pessimistic nature making her think of all the horrible things that could have happened since she'd visited last time. Trying to keep calm, she assured herself it was probably nothing. Zac was at a friend's house and her parents were probably with their friends somewhere. It was nothing to worry about. It wasn't exactly normal - they had always greeted her as soon as she arrived - but it wasn't necessarily __bad__. She was just… overthinking it.

Adrienne's stomach growled, and she decided to get a snack, although she would have to be careful not to fill up on dinner. Her parents always made ham and potato soup the first night she was back, and she was not willing to miss it. She walked to the kitchen, nose wrinkling almost as soon as she stepped through the door. "God, what is that smell?" It was a sharp metallic scent with a soft overlay of burnt, rotten meat. If death had a smell, then this was probably it.

Adrienne tripped walking around the island in the middle of the room. "Ow! What the hell!" She looked over my shoulder and immediately wished she hadn't.

Zac was an eight year old boy, short for his age. He was energetic and loving, with hazel eyes that seemed to change color every minute. He had a missing front tooth, and liked to stick his tongue through the hole. He didn't have a best friend, simply because he couldn't choose one from amongst the multitude of third-graders he knew and played with. When he hugged his sister, as he did often, he only came up to her waist and wrapped his arms completely around her legs and pressed his face into her abdomen. Adrienne had to bend down to speak with him face to face. He was probably the sweetest, most innocent child she had ever known.

He lay dead by his sister's feet.

His happy hazel eyes were no more. In their place were rotten red and black pits. His hands reached out on either side of him, almost like he'd been making a snow angel. There was a faint smell of burnt meat coming from him. One of Adrienne's bare feet was touching his cold, clammy hand.

Adrienne rolled away from the sight, hands clawing at the floor to get away, but couldn't help the vomit that forced its way up her esophagus and out of her mouth. She puked for half a minute before shoving herself away from the small puddle she had left. Her senses stung and her throat burned. Tears slipped past my eyes and down her face.

Adrienne crawled over to her baby brother, foot pulled through the puke. If she noticed, she didn't care. All she felt was her brother's face as she cradled it tenderly in her hands, fingers brushing over the marled skin around his eye sockets, a sharp contrast to his soft cheeks and nose.

It was hard to tell what his expression was. Adrienne didn't know what he'd felt in his last moments. Was he scared? Sad? Confused? Did he even know what was happening? What __did__ happen?

The tears kept flowing, pouring onto his face. They burned grooves into his skin, as though they were acidic.

The ground and house shook. Crystal glasses and porcelain dishes fell from cabinets and shattered on the floor, millions of tiny pieces falling around Adrienne and Zac. A metal pan fell from the rack over the island, making a sound like a gong when it connected with the floor.

Adrienne didn't know how long the earthquake lasted, or how long she sat there as the world fell apart around her. She looked out the window, expecting the sky to be gray and blood to color the ground. But the sun still shined, though several small trees had fallen.

Adrienne hear a voice. In the deepest recesses of her mind, she __heard__ someone talking to her. It didn't sound like a man or woman, it just… was. __Go. Run. Hide. Before they find you__.

But she couldn't. Not yet.

Adrienne carefully picked up Zac and carried him upstairs with his head and legs hanging over each of her arms. She tucked him into his bed and pulled his Spiderman blanket over his little body. Adrienne carefully turned his head so that she wouldn't have to see the space where his eyes had been. He looked like he had just gone to sleep, but there were little things to hint otherwise. His body was too stiff, his hands simply lying there instead of curled around his blanket like they usually were.

Adrienne sat down next to him and slowly ran a few of her fingers through his curled hair. She tried to sing him a lullaby that her parents used to sing to them before bed, but the words stuck in her throat. So instead, she hummed it as well as she could with one arm wrapped around his little body. When her throat hurt from humming, and she had run out of tears, she kissed her brother's forehead and left.

* * *

 _ _April 4th, 2011__

Adrienne staggered into the abandoned farmhouse and collapsed on the floor as soon as she was inside, only moving two feet away from the doorway. Not stopping to catch her breath, she tore off her worn-through sneakers, ignoring the holes, and winced as she looked at the blisters forming on the bottom of her feet. She pressed a finger to one of them in an attempt to assess the damage, and hissed when a feeling like fire flooded her foot. Adrienne let her leg rest on the (mostly) dry wooden floor, careful not to let the sole of her foot touch the ground the dirty ground.

It was at times like this that Adrienne wished bathtubs and proper bandages were not a distant memory. But the last time she had stopped to eat at a restaurant instead of stealing food (a week ago now), her car had been stolen, and with it, her clothes, shoes, and money. Her feet felt like they would rather be cut off than go on, and her clothes were covered in a layer of dust and grime. Adrienne couldn't even hitchhike or guilt someone into letting her stay in their house for the night, because she couldn't trust anyone, too scared that everyone she saw was surely her family's killer.

To make matters worse, the mosquitos had decided to make an early appearance. And the wasps. Adrienne was lucky she wasn't allergic, else she would probably be dead by now. Still, they itched and left angry red bumps on her arms and legs that were infinitely more annoying than the feet, which could at least be soothed by sitting down. They were even worse in a few places where they coincided with where Adrienne had cut her arm to get blood for the sigil and runes she drew on the walls of her nightly shelters (although there had been two terrifying nights when she had to sleep outside, once under a bridge and another time in a tree). The weird symbols appeared in her mind the day she left - ancient protection to be written in blood. She didn't know what they meant, who was sending them, or even what all they were protecting her from. But once they appeared in her mind, she never once forgot them.

Adrienne rested her feet on the bag she'd stolen and pulled out a half-full bottle of water, chugging what was left. She yawned, her entire body aching and tired, and reluctantly decided to rest a few minutes before putting up the warding. She closed her eyes, and her thoughts grew hazy…

Light surrounded the farmhouse, pulsing as though alive and looking in through the spaces in between the boarded up windows. They saw Adrienne sleeping, and rammed through the boards, blowing them to the ground. Adrienne jolted awake, fear in every movement. She stood up, flinching when her bare feet connected with the hard floor. She pressed her back as close to the wall as she could, hands flat against the rough surface. The lights filled the room, flowing around, burning as hot as stars. Her eyes burned just from looking at them, and she shut them and huddled closer to the wall with her arms around her knees and her head down.

She opened her eyes when she realized that one of them was right in front of her. It started shaping itself into a body. The light turned into a mostly-bald man with a black suit and a creepy grin. "Don't worry," he told her, smile never faltering. "This won't hurt a bit." He reached one hand towards my forehead, and I closed my eyes, waiting for whatever would happen next…

Thick black smoke filled the room, whirling above and around the lights. One of them slammed into the old man, knocking him onto the floor. He tried to stand up, but several of them surrounded him.

While the rest of the smoke fought the lights, another light stopped in front of Adrienne. This one was different, with dark spots marring the light like bruises. Adrienne stared with wide eyes as the light took the form of a handsome young man with marbled red eyes in place of of pupils.

He crouched down in front of her and tentatively reached out a hand. Fear and worry were alight in his beautiful eyes. "Take my hand."

Adrienne was frozen. She had no idea what was going on or who this man was. But if he was one of the ones who helped her…

Without hesitating any further, Adrienne took his hand. He pulled her closer and wrapped his arms around her. Adrienne felt her stomach lurche, and they were gone.

* * *

 _ _April 5th, 2011__

Adrienne didn't know how long she slept.

Whenever she started to drift back into reality, she hung onto the edges of her dreams. It was the first times in weeks that she'd had a dream that wasn't a nightmare. In it, she was levitating in oblivion. Blood pulsed under her skin, like lightning. Darkness and black smoke surrounded her, filling her senses and curling around her body. It was comforting, like a lover's embrace, and made her feel safe and cared for whereas the lights had been harsh and angry.

But one can't live in dreams.

Adrienne's dreams drifted away as she slowly came back to reality. She was laying on a king sized bed with black silk sheets and a matching goose feather duvet, her arms and torso wrapped around a pillow. She had on a black plain t-shirt and matching yoga pants. Her feet and arms had been disinfected and wrapped in bandages.

Adrienne slowly sat up in the bed, keeping hold of the pillow. The room had blood red walls with an inky damask pattern and black bamboo wainscoting. The floors were made of black marble with silver glyphs and runes carved into them. An armoire stood to one side of her bed, a door the other. Another, taller door stood opposite her. There were windows behind the carved headboard. Thick brocade curtains covered the window. When she pulled them back, she realized that they were just for decoration. They didn't let her see outside. There was only more of the wall.

There were two wrought iron sconces with ivory candles lines along each of the walls to her sides. There was a mahogany table with a black stain and two matching chairs in between the bed and the armoire with a table in between the. On her left was a nightstand with a pitcher of water, a crystal goblet, and a porcelain bowl with an unused washcloth. Adrienne didn't touch them.

Adrienne stood up, wincing when her feet touched the ground, but they didn't hurt as much as they had. She walked around slowly, careful not to make too much noise, trailing a finger over the polished wood of the bed posts and armoire. She thought about opening a door, but decided against it. She thought of arming herself. There were no real weapons, but she could injure someone well enough with the pitcher, or maybe the bowl. The goblet was too small to be used up close, but maybe she could throw it at someone.

Adrienne heard the door opening and picked up the goblet. She threw it at the first person she saw - a tall man with bleached blond hair and black clothes with silver embroidery. Eyes wide in surprise, he caught the goblet in one hand and looked at her. "Really?" Adrienne took a step back when she recognized his red eyes.

The man stared at her, handing the goblet to the woman behind him, who was a woman about the same age as Adrienne with black hair (that was clearly dyed, but still looked nice) and green eyes. She was wearing a plain black dress and flats. She took the glass and went to set it back down on the nightstand. Adrienne leaned back when she got close.

When she had finished, the woman folded her hands behind her back. She wore a polite smile that was clearly rehearsed, and a bit creepy.

The man acted as though nothing had happened, smiling warmly at her, like they shared a secret no one else was in on. "Hello Adrienne." He was careful not to get too close, lest he make her uncomfortable. When he realized that was what the woman was doing, he made an annoyed face and made a hand motion to get her to move back a few steps. Adrienne let out a little breath of relief when she obeyed.

Adrienne kept one hand on the bed post to ground her. When she finally found her voice, all she could say was, "You saved me." Her voice was breathless, barely above a whisper.

The man's smile was softer then, more realistic. Proud, even. He nodded once. "Yes I did."

A beat passed before Adrienne asked, "Who are you?"

He looked at her curiously as he answered, "My name is Vetis." He stepped closer to her and reached a hand out, resting it carefully on her arm. She tensed under his touch. He used what was left of his warped grace to comfort her. "Don't worry. You're safe here." He pulled her over to one of the cushiony chairs and helped her to sit. "Dakota, get Adrienne some water."

Dakota used the pitcher to fill the glass with water and quickly brought it over to Adrienne, moving back into position behind Vetis.

Having not had anything to drink since the night before, Adrienne downed the cup. Vetis waited patiently, something he had a lot of practice at. After all, he'd been waiting thousands of years for the girl in front of him.

Adrienne breathed heavily when she was done drinking. Dakota moved to fill the cup again, but Adrienne raised a hand to stop her. "It's ok. I'm good."

"Are you hungry?" Vetis asked her.

Adrienne's stomach growled at the mention of food, having not eaten properly in several days. "God yes."

There was a flash of something in Vetis's eyes; anger, hatred, pain. It was gone before Adrienne could ever see it. He smiled to cover it up. "What would you like?"

She thought about it for a moment before asking, "What can I have?"

He chuckled at the answer. Adrienne blushed, feeling stupid without knowing why. "Whatever you want," he said.

She contemplated her answer. "Can I have shrimp alfredo?"

"Of course."

"And cake?"

"Oh, definitely. What kind do you want?"

"Chocolate. The kind with whipped cream in between the layers. I had that once when I went to Busch Gardens, but I couldn't finish it because it was so big." Adrienne's gaze dropped to her lap as she wondered why she felt the need to add that last part.

Vetis put a hand on her upper arm. "Don't worry. You can have whatever you want." He turned to Dakota, smile replaced with a stern, commanding look. "Get Adrienne what she asked for, and bring me a bottle of wine." Dakota scurried off with nothing but a nod in response. Vetis turned back to Adrienne.

Adrienne shifted in her seat as she began to grow uncomfortable under Vetis's worshipful gaze. Eventually, she asked him, "What's going on? Why am I here?"

"I'll explain everything to you… after you eat."


	2. Part One — Chapter Two

Part One: Dark One

Chapter Two: Lucifer's Daughter

* * *

 _December 25th, 2009_

 _Sweat poured from Lorie's face, falling from her hair and soaking her thin black dress. The only thing separating her from the mattress was a single set of silk white sheets, now stained by blood and amniotic fluid. There were several doctors and nurses in the lavish bedroom, each with thick chains around their necks, wrists, and ankles. They gave her pain medication, but nothing worked; she was eventually left to work through her torment naturally as they attempted instead to comfort her. But it was hard to be calm when you were giving birth to a nephilim while a fallen angel turned demon glowered impatiently at you._

 _The labor lasted half a day. Lorie was sure the pain would never end, and it only seemed to worsen whenever Vetis abruptly got up and paced around the room, occasionally looking at her in undisguised annoyance (because childbirth isn't bad enough on its own)._

 _When she could think, she thought about Him. Lucifer._

 _When she had first met him, she had thought he was her savior, and technically, he was. Fire had burned around her, filling her lungs with smoke and burning her family to death. She had gone to the cabin (that was closer to a mansion, really) for a family reunion, knowing it would be terrible. Even if her family didn't hate her, there had been lightning all throughout the state for a week. Hell, there was a hurricane in her town not two weeks ago!_

 _Still, even she did not realize just how terrible._

 _She sipped at blood red wine as her parents and aunts and uncles talked about nothing at all. Oh, there were some important things that had managed to weasel their way into their tiny little brains. An unexpected hurricane on the east coast, the weird light that people in a small town in Kansas were claiming to have seen. Then they went back to nagging Lorie to find a husband, she wouldn't need a job then, and she would have children to fill her time. Ugh. The mere_ thought _of children made her want to puke._

 _As she lay sound asleep in bed that night, there lightning split across the sky as thunder shook the earth. The wind carried several sparks over to the house, lighting the family on fire from the outside, quickly consuming the rest of the house._

 _Lorie slept through the first few minutes as her family awoke and ran around frantically, like chicken with their heads cut off. It was their screams that woke her, and she ran downstairs, but she tripped over one of her cousins and went flying towards the ground. Her ankle was smashed against the stone fireplace that jutted out of the walls. She shrieked with pain as the small bone was easily broken. She cried out in pain and held it to her, unable to do anything as the inferno surrounded her and thick smoke filled her lungs. Her sight grew hazy and she began to fall into unconsciousness._

 _It was only as she realized that she couldn't possibly get out on her own that he appeared. A man with blond hair and blue eyes wearing a plain green shirt. The fire backed away from him, as though repelled by his presence. Luckily, this meant it didn't touch her either. Scared, she asked him, "Who are you?"_

 _He smiled calmly at her. "Your saviour." He seemed to find this funny. "I'm going to help you Lorelei, but only if you do something for me."_

 _Most people would not have thought twice to say yes, but Lorie was suspicious (after all, it's not every day a man appears in your burning home claiming he can save your life). "What do you want?"_

 _"Something very precious that might come in handy one day. But you won't find out what it is if you don't come with me." He reached a hand out towards her. She only hesitated a moment before accepting it._

 _She was instantly transported to a lavish bedroom with no windows and a set of clothes laid out on the bed. A man with marbled red eyes stood with his hands behind his back, like a soldier. He was wearing thick black clothes with silver symbols embroidered along the cuffs, collar, and hem of his tunic. He had the air of someone who felt it was his right to literally walk on them. He smiled when he saw the blond man and cast an appraising look at Lorie, like a piece of furniture and he was deciding whether or not to keep it._

 _Lorie sat down on the bed to rest her ankle, which, though no longer broken, was still sore. She asked the blond man, "Who are you?"_

 _He smirked at her. "Lucifer."_

 _Lorie rolled her eyes. "Just tell me."_

 _The man - she refused to think of him as Lucifer - stepped closer, towering over her. He reached one hand up to her face, curving around her cheek, resting the tips of his fingers against her temple._

 _She felt as though the universe exploded as memories that weren't hers. First there was darkness. Then stars were born and died, planets were formed, life began. Plants, and animals, and love and light, and then -_

 _Hatred. Disgust. Anger. Betrayal. War._

 _Falling. A cage. Cold._

 _Thousands of years passed as the glorified apes ruined what was meant to be paradise before Lilith broke the seal. And then he was finally free again._

 _Lorelei came back to herself with a gasp as Lucifer lowered his hand and leaned back. She breathed heavily, turning from side to side as though searching for something that wasn't there._

 _"You… You're…"_

 _He nodded._

 _Lorie finally caught her breath and simply looked at him with eyes wide with fear and fascination. "You said you wanted me to give you something. Something precious. What is it?"_

 _He smiled at how straightforward she was, pleased with her curiosity and her wariness. "In a few months, you are going to give birth to a child, my child."_

 _Lorie's eyes widen and she scrambles backwards, quickly standing up after falling off of the bed. She felt sick, and pressed her hand to her stomach as though anticipating sickness. Lucifer chuckled. "Don't worry. I won't touch you, I don't have to. It's already done. She's on her way now."_

 _Lucifer had visited her a few times during the following months, but stopped when Lorelei refused to speak to him. But Vetis remained, making sure she didn't try to escape. He was a bit of an enigma. He rarely spoke to her, but was almost always around, eyeing her carefully. She was sure he didn't care about her one way or another, but the child was a different matter. He smiled whenever someone brought it up, walking around like a king and humming. Lorie soon learned to do this whenever he seemed like he was about to be in a bad mood._

 _At first she had thought he was a demon, but he looked down on all the others and only seemed to respect Lucifer. Once she heard Lucifer call him brother, and she realized that he was a fallen angel._

 _But she only thought about these things to keep her mind off of the child._

 _She could feel it growing inside of her, faster than a human would have, sending random, burning pains throughout her body. She felt as though she were being stricken every time she looked in the mirror and saw how her stomach had grown. She didn't want a child, although she doubted that she would ever even see it after it was born. Vetis had told her that he was to be its caretaker. She would be released._

 _The news should have made her ecstatic, but instead, she grew more afraid. Afraid of a child that had any part in the devil's plans. Yes, he had saved her, but she was not naive. She knew that he had done it for his own gain than out of any goodness in him, because all it took was one look at his ice-blue eyes to know that there was no goodness in him. So she knew that this child would be dangerous. A monster._

 _Finally, the day come when the girl was born. One of the doctors wrapped her in a blanket and began to hand her to Lorelei before Vetis demanded she be given to him. He started to leave the room with her before she called out to him._

 _"Please - please, can I hold her? Just for a minute?"_

 _Vetis eyed her warily. She was sweaty and weak, breaths heaving from sheer exhaustion. She could barely sit up. He doubted she could do any harm in this state. And Lucifer had said she could have whatever she wanted as long as she didn't try anything…_

 _Reluctantly, he put the girl in Lorelei's arms._

 _Lorelei looked down at her 'daughter' and nearly screamed at the sight._

 _The child was not ugly, or even strange-looking really except for the marks. Glowing runes encircled her arms and neck. Her eyes were glowing a soft white. It made her think of the light Lucifer showed her, but softer._

 _Regardless of her soft this creature was, she could not allow Lucifer to have her. She…_ it _, was dangerous, and always would be. She had to stop it before it could cause any damage. "Forgive me," she whispered gently, placing a kiss on the child's brow before quickly placing a hand over her mouth and pinching her nose shut._

 _The baby screamed, and Vetis was next to her in an instant, wrenching her away and snapping his fingers._

 _Lorelei's neck twisted and her spine snapped._

 _Vetis scowled at the body before sighing and turning to the other people in the room, who stared at him with terror in their expressions. "Well, I think that's enough excitement for one day, don't you all?" They nodded in response to his casual statement. "Good." He shifted so that the child was pressed closer to his chest. He opened the door. Several demons entered the room as he leaved. The door shut behind him as the doctors' screams filled the air._

 _As he walked down the corridor, he thought of what to call her. He had been going to allow Lorelei to name her, but that definitely wasn't going to happen. And he was her caretaker now, as Lucifer didn't have time to devote to a child born to play a role and nothing more._

 _He thought for a moment before saying out loud, "Adrienne." He smiled. "Adrienne Lucille Morgenstern." Vetis looked down at the infant. "Do you like that?" He asked her._

 _Adrienne laughed and smiled in that innocent way that only babies ever did. He grinned at her enthusiasm. "Yes, I like it too."_

 _Vetis didn't know what part Adrienne would have in the apocalypse, only that it was important. So he kept her in a safe house on earth, away from the action where only Lucifer and a few select followers would be able to find them. Dakota was one of them. She kept him updated on the apocalypse. What angels had switched to their side (precious few that were all killed almost immediately), that the Winchesters had supposedly found a way to put Lucifer back in the cage, and that they had definitely released Death. Dean Winchester had nearly said yes to Michael, but their lap dog, Castiel, pulled him back (Vetis felt bile rise in his throat at the thought of his brethren being no better than a dog awaiting a command from an ape). Adrienne liked having Dakota around. She would play with her and make her read books - Dante's Inferno, Julius Caesar, The Satanic Bible (which was overrated if you asked him). The little nephilim would exclaim over Dakota's hair, which she dyed often. The months passed, and by the time Sam Winchester had said yes, Adrienne was the size of a human toddler and was growing into her telekinesis._

 _Then Lucifer was trapped again, and nothing was right._

 _Vetis paced Adrienne's playroom, eyes flashing red at the cowering servants, before picking up a table and slamming it against a wall. Adrienne stared at him with wide eyes as her blocks fell from her chubby little hands. He forced himself to calm down and picked her up, carefully rocking and singing a soft lullaby lest she grow upset and cause another earthquake. Slowly, the tension left her little body and she rested her head on his shoulder and her fists on his chest._

 _As he stood there, Adrienne in his arms, Lucifer sent him a vision. Adrienne was grown in a ceremonial gown with her white marks glowing against her light brown skin, black hair flowing down her back like a waterfall made of obsidian, eyes glowing white as blood poured from them. The blood formed a circle on a grown that light began to spill out of. The ingredients of a spell sat at different points around it. A heart, angel grace, a demon, and -_

 _Oh._

 _It's clear now. Adrienne_ is _needed, just not how he thought she would be. He had thought that she was needed for the apocalypse itself, to defeat Michael or weaken Heaven. No. She was a backup plan, so that if anything happened, she could bring Lucifer out again, and only she could do it, because only she was his child._

 _Unfortunately, now was not a good time to be one of Lucifer's followers. Crowley - the second-rate salesman - had taken over Hell as "king". If Vetis went back, he would be hunted, even if he didn't immediately tried to kill the fool. And Adrienne's nephilim nature was like a beacon, calling angels and demons alike to kill her. To protect her, Vetis decided to place her with a human family and mask her true nature. He aged her so that instead of a child, she was an adult who might be able to defend herself if necessary. He wove memories for her "family", making them believe she'd always been there, that she was theirs and that they loved her dearly. She lived with them until she went to college. Vetis followed her everywhere, just out of sight, carefully masking himself so that no one (or rather, nothing) could sense him. She didn't make many friends at school, but she did gain a boyfriend, Adam (which made him laugh and scowl at the same time). Adam was a good christian who was polite and sweet and made good grades and was going to be a doctor and very eager to meet her family._

 _Vetis hated him on principle, and kept hating him from there._

 _He waited. Waited until Crowley was too occupied with hell, until Adrienne had already become attached to her life, until she was making plans to go home._

 _Vetis took aside one of the newer demons and told him about Adrienne - where she was (technically, where her_ house _was), who she was, what she was. He did not tell him how important it was that this information stay secret. He gave the demon a weapon that he had saved from before he fell. It drew angels to him, and they captured the demon, torturing it for information. Out of desperation, it told them about Adrienne. They killed it and set out for her house. When they got there, all they found was an innocent little boy and a loving couple. They killed them mercilessly._

 _Perhaps it was cruel of him to send them to her family. In such a case, it was lucky that he did not care._

 _Besides, it was necessary. After all, Adrienne could not be expected to just up and trust a demon. That was insane. But a good man that saved her from the monsters that killed her family… well, who wouldn't trust someone like that._


	3. Part One — Chapter Three

Part One: Dark One

Chapter Three: Rarely Pure, Never Simple

* * *

 _What do you think the Devil did,_  
 _after he fell from Heaven?_

 _Did he curse the Lord's's name,_  
 _He most beloved by Lucifer above all others?_  
 _Did he nurse his wounded Pride with poison and fire,_  
 _to further stoke the furnace of his Wrath?_

 _Did he vow revenge against all of Creation, and Man most of all,_  
 _to whom God's finest angel was expected to bow?_  
 _Did he take joy in depriving them of Heaven's light,_  
 _to suffer with him in the cold Darkness, abandoned?_

 _I believe he did all of these things –_  
 _but first, I believe he wept._

 _He cried - not as the Devil, but as a son;_  
 _as a child cast out of home,_  
 _while his Father called it Love._

* * *

 _April 5th, 2011_

Vetis waited for Adrienne to finish eating, circling his finger around the goblet of wine that Dakota had brought him.

She practically shoveled the food into her mouth without ever stopping to take a break and was done in less than five minutes. She seemed somewhat embarrassed when she stopped, and averted his gaze.

They sat in awkward silence before she spoke. "Why did you bring me here?"

"Because we need you."

"That is cryptic and creepy."

Vetis resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Fair enough. Let's start by explaining who you are."

"I know who I am." Her gaze was challenging, as though daring him to say otherwise. She has lost much in the past two weeks, but she refuses to lose who she is.

Vetis smiled apologetically. "My apologies. I should have been more clear. I want to explain what you are."

She felt like arguing, but it seemed pointless. Instead she asked him, "What do you mean?" It's more of a demand than a real question. Her voice is commanding and her gaze is stern. It's easy to see why she decided to study law.

Vetis stood up and started to walk around the table. "Who are your parents, Adrienne?"

Adrienne looked caught off guard. She narrowed her eyes. "Why do you care?"

He shrugged. "Just want to see if you get it right."

Adrienne was starting to get angry. How dare this man who she didn't know demand her family, her memories?

But he had saved her, and she had to believe that he would help her.

"My parents are Mariam and Josef Morgenstern."

Vetis shook his head. "No they're not."

Adrienne's hand curled into a fist as she stood up. Vetis held up one of his hands, palm out, to placate her. "They cared for you. Took care of you. Loved you. They thought you were theirs as surely as you do. But they weren't your parents, not really."

"Then who were?"

"Ordinary people that you were given to to keep you safe. Your real parents were Lorelei Abeln and Lucifer."

Several beats passed while Adrienne simply stared at him as though he were insane. Then she said, "Lucifer. My father… is Lucifer."

Vetis nodded. "Yes."

"Lucifer," she repeated. "As in… Satan?"

"Exactly."

A beat passed before she responded, "Okay… What have you been smoking and can I have some?" Deciding this man was insane and not wanting to take any chances, she carefully reached for the butter knife Dakota had given her.

Vetis smirked. "I assure you, Adrienne, I am not smoking anything. And you shouldn't either. It's… beneath you."

Adrienne lifted an eyebrow as she curled her fingers around the knife's handle. "'Beneath me'? Okay. Fine." She moved away from him under the guise of walking around the table. "So, Lucifer, huh? And I guess that makes you… what? A demon?" She stopped moving and looked him in the eyes. They were an ordinary brown now, and she found herself missing the red.

"A fallen angel actually."

"Fancy."

He smiled. "My rank grants me certain powers and privileges not given to others."

"Cool." He doesn't say anything. The silence and full and awkward, and crazy or not, it is wonderful to talk to someone again. She decides to try Dakota instead. "Are you a fallen angel too?"

She shook her head, seeming surprised at being addressed. "I'm a demon, ma'am."

"Really? What's that like?"

"It was hard getting here, but very much worth the pain. Ma'am."

She wonders what about being a demon was painful, but decided that would be too awkward to ask. "What makes it worth it?"

"You."

Adrienne drew back in shock from the pure conviction in Dakota's voice, the certainty that no matter what hell she had gone through, somehow Adrienne of all people would make it worth it.

The corner of her lip hooks itself into a smile. Then she started giggling. Giggling turns into full blown, hysterical laughter that leaves her clutching her stomach as tears poured from her eyes, hissing like acid when they hit the ground. She stops laughing, and then she's just sobbing pathetically, the knife making a loud clanging sound when it fell to the ground.

Vetis pulled Adrienne close to him, wrapping his arms around her like a protective cocoon. Her tears soak his shirt as he rocks her and hums, carefully running his fingers through her hair.

She calmed down after a few minutes. Although it might be more accurate to say she ran out of tears, though she still let out a sniffle every now and then. Finally she asked him, "What were they? The things that killed my brother?" She was certain now that they were things, not people. No person could do that.

"Angels."

Adrienne let out a harsh chuckle. "Is it bad that that doesn't surprise me?"

She wondered for a moment if she was going insane, if this was an elaborate hallucination that her mind indulged in before her body would allow it to give up. After all, men do not have red eyes, lights don't come to life and kill you, and smoke does not save you from said lights. Really, hallucination makes more sense.

"Why did they do it?"

For the first time, Vetis hesitated before answering. "They were trying to find you, but you hadn't gotten home yet. They left about an hour before you got there." He doesn't tell her that he had disabled the wards that would have alerted them to her presence

It occurs to Adrienne that she has never really felt guilty, or at least she doesn't remember it. Whenever people talked about it, it seemed like a minor discomfort that passed once the source of your guilt had left the room. But Adrienne felt as though she were drowning. She wanted to scratch her skin off, hated the feeling of being closed in by the walls, by Vetis's arms, even by her own clothes. She couldn't breath, her lungs refused to draw in air as the image of her brother's burnt out eyes imprinted itself on her brain.

Her vision started to blur, little beads of black and green and red gathering around the edges of her sight.

"Adrienne!"

Vetis shook her, snapping her back into reality. The dots retreated from her eyes, though her vision was still blurred from tears. She looked around. Vetis was holding her in his arms, an almost scared look on his face. Dakota had left, though she'd cleaned off the table before going.

When he was sure that she was alright, Vetis stood up and pulled Adrienne with him. "I think that you should lay down and sleep. You've been through much lately and this is a lot to take in."

He started to lead her to the bed, but she dug her heels into the ground, planting herself in the floor. Vetis looked back to her when her arm refused to move with him.

"I don't want to rest." Her jaw was set in a stubborn line. Her eyes held a sort of fire in them that reminded him of Lucifer's light, tempting Vetis to follow him, to never have to take another order from an absent father, to never bow to humanity, to fall. That same light was now contained within Adrienne, melded together with a human soul. The result was brighter than Lucifer ever was and just as thrilling. Just looking at her was like having fire running through his entire being, exciting and fresh and powerful.

"What do you want to do then?" He resisted the urge give into whatever she said. He needed to be logical, no matter how tempting it was to simply obey her whims.

"I want to know everything. I want to know why a bunch of freaking angels want me dead. I want to know what happened to my parents, I want to know what the hell is going on!" While she spoke, she took small, incremental steps towards him untelling she was yelling in his face with her fists clenched at her waist. Rage and pain were etched on her face in perfect detail. It was in the way her lips quivered and her jaw was set. She was beautiful, like a fire, destroying everything in its path before collapsing into ash. Vetis wondered if ash longed to burn again. To feel its flames wrapping around everything pure and good and reducing it to a pile of fancy dust and choking black smoke. To be warm again.

Adrienne breathed in heavily before realizing how close they were standing. She blushed scarlet and backed away. "I'm sorry," she said, eyes lowered and voice quiet, "I didn't mean to get in your face."

Vetis smiled kindly. "Don't worry. We all lose control sometimes. And you have more reason than most." He walked back over to the table and refilled her water glass before continuing. "You have every right to demand answers. The only problem is that… well, the truth is complicated. Are you sure you want to hear about today? There's no rush."

Adrienne shook her head stubbornly. "No, I want to know now. I need to know."

"Very well." Vetis sat down and gestured towards her chair. She sat down awkwardly, making the chair knock against the table. Vetis didn't seem to notice. He stared at the wall behind her, eyes cloudy and unfocused. She noticed, for the first time, little things about him that set him apart from ordinary humans. His back was too straight, his face too stiff. Every movement was intentional, with no awkward shifting or unconscious quirks. She realized he didn't breath. His chest had only moved up and down when he was speaking, but now it was completely still. It didn't freak her out as much as it might have once.

"When God," Vetis sneered the name, "first created the universe, angels were one of his first creations. It basically went Earth, a few awful monsters, angels. And it was… good. Perfect, really. I was an angel and I served God with my brothers and sisters. Lucifer though… He was the brightest, the most loyal. He and Michael were the most powerful angels-"

"What kind of angel were you?" Adrienne asks.

Vetis looked surprised that she had asked, but not upset necessarily. "A seraphim," he told her, eyes scanning her again, as though he had just noticed something about her that he had not before. "Your father was one of the archangels," he added.

Adrienne's heart skipped when she heard him say father before realizing that he meant Lucifer instead of Josef.

Vetis continues speaking, having not noticed Adrienne's mini-heart attack. "Basically, everything was perfect, and we were a big happy family, blah blah blah, a bunch of boring stuff no one cares about. And then God created humans."

"I know about that. Lucifer fell because he hated humanity."

Vetis scowled in annoyance, though not with her. "That's a vast over-exaggeration. Yes, your father didn't particularly care for humanity, but few of us did. They're… small and weak, but they wreak such havoc, even against their own. Especially against their own. But God wanted all of us to bow to them, to act as though they were above us when all they were were a bunch of filthy, murderous apes -" He caught sight of Adrienne's face and stopped talking before clearing his throat awkwardly. "Anyway. Lucifer decided to rebel against Heaven."

"And you joined him," Adrienne guessed.

"I did," Vetis said, dipping his head in a way that was akin to a nod, but not quite.

"You lost." Adrienne wasn't sure why she had felt the need to say that. It was probably just an attempt to regain some semblance of control.

Vetis had a wry look, as though to say 'No shit.' "Really? I hadn't noticed."

Adrienne smiled. It was a small, dull thing, but Vetis considered it a minor accomplishment.

"As I'm sure you, in all your infinite wisdom know, we were banished to Hell. Many of us died, but a few, such as myself, did survive." He paused then, his eyes haunted. "Adrienne… you need to understand what exactly Hell is."

Adrienne frowned in slight confusion. "Isn't it a place that some people go after they die?" She sounded as though she had read the information once and had never heard it mentioned again until now.

"Oh, it is so much more than that. It's a prison, one made of pain and fear that will make the strongest of souls long for oblivion. Lucifer was kept in a cage while the rest of were abandoned, but not forgotten. That would have been much easier." He paused before continuing, "Many went completely insane, and even now are lost within the worst parts of Hell. I… well I endured basically. Nothing else to do really, didn't exactly have Netflix. And it stayed that way for what felt like eternity." He paused, now standing directly in front of Adrienne. She stared up at him in morbid curiosity.

"How did you get out?"

Vetis smiled. "About four years ago now, a man with demon blood — long story — opened a Devil's gate — one of the Gates of Hell. Now, demons slip through the gates all the time, but they're few and far between. This unleashed a flood of hundreds of demons, including Lilith, the First Demon."

"And you," Adrienne added, still watching him with almost reverent eyes.

Vetis nodded. "Yes, but Lilith's the part you want to focus on right now. You see, Lucifer's cage was locked by 666 seals, which weren't so much physical things as events that needed to happen for him to be let out, and only 66 had to be broken for it to work. And Lilith was the only one that could break them."

"Where is she."

Vetis wasted no breath in telling her, "She's dead. That was the last seal."

"So Lucifer's… released?"

Vetis shook his head. "No. Well, he was, but he got put back in." Now Adrienne just looked confused, so he continued, "Lucifer was supposed to bring about the apocalypse, and it was supposed to end with him and Michael fighting to the death. But to do this, they each needed a specific human vessel, Sam and Dean Winchester, neither of whom were willing to play their part. Well one of them - Sam - did."

"Hold on, back up. Vessel?"

"Angels and demons don't have physical forms," he explained. "So we use humans to move around on earth."

"And the humans are… okay with this?"

"Well demons can possess anyone, but angels need permission. Of course, most of them aren't very good about the 'informed' part of 'informed consent'..." He gives Adrienne a moment to process this, delights in her horror, knowing that the information will only further cement her hatred of them. "But Sam knew what he was doing. Unfortunately, he was able to take control back and forced Lucifer back into the cage. Of course, the angels got him out." Vetis remembered his own anger from when he learned that the Winchesters' lapdog, Castiel (it shamed him to think they were related), had raised Sam Winchester, adding insult to injury. It had been the last straw, and he had immediately put his plans to retrieve Adrienne to him into action. "And that's basically where we are now."

"Okay, but what does any of that have to do with me?" So far, Vetis had not actually told her anything about herself.

One corner of Vetis's mouth hooked itself into a smile. "Lucifer saved Lorelei from a fire soon after being released. You were born some months later."

He watches the information register. Her brow furrows in confusion as she speaks, "But that was barely two years ago. I'm almost 20 years old."

Vetis shook his head. "No you're not. You look 20, and you have several years of memories to support that, but you're not. A spell was used to age you after Lucifer was returned to his prison so that you wouldn't be completely defenseless if you were ever found."

Adrienne felt as though the world were collapsing around her, confusion swirling inside her mind. "No… no, that can't be."

"I'm sorry, but it is. I mean, do you ever really think about any of your memories? Sure, they're there, but always in the background, always blurred, never in focus. It's because they're not real. The only ones that are are the ones that you've formed since you were placed with the Morgensterns."

She couldn't handle it. The thought of any of it being true was too awful, so instead she asked him, "Why would anyone do that? Put me with them? All it did was put them in danger."

"It wasn't safe here. After the Winchesters fucked everything up, a demon, Crowley, crowned himself the King of Hell. And he wasn't exactly fond of the devil. He's been killing as many of our followers as he can."

She misses the fact that he says 'ours'. Instead, anger begins to burn inside of her when she hears that the only reason her family is dead is because some dick with an ego-problem was killing off those who might have protected her.

"Okay. Say I believe all of this, believe you. What do you want with me?"

Vetis doesn't say anything for a while. Just looks at her, as though he's searching for something. Apparently, he finds it. "I want you to fix it."

… "You're gonna have to be more specific."

Vetis resists the urge to roll his eyes. "Yes, Lucifer's in the cage, but he doesn't have to be. Now, we can't break the seals again. That won't work with Lilith already dead anyway. But you're his daughter; you have power not seen since God up and left after the war."

Adrienne chuckles coldly. Power, she thought. Yeah right. If I had any real power, I could've saved Zac. Instead of voicing that particular thought, she said, "I don't have any power."

"Yes you do; it was masked when you were hidden so that the angels wouldn't find you. I guess that was pointless."

Adrienne didn't speak. She stared at her hands, twisted and still in her lap. Finally, she asked him, "What happened to my parents?"

Vetis looked at her pitifully. "The angels killed them. They were in the house; you just left before you could see them."

She was silent again. She didn't even seem to be breathing, she was so still. When she did speak, it was with a cold, emotionless tone, "What do you want me to do?"

* * *

The poem at the beginning of this chapter is "he lost so much more than paradise" by dvoyd on tumblr.


	4. Part One — Chapter Four

Part One: Dark One

Chapter Four: I Will Fix It

* * *

" _I found Heaven in his eyes,_

 _And angels in his smile._

 _But he hid Hell in his mind,_

 _And demons in his heart."_

* * *

 _April 6th, 2011_

Vetis kneeled in front of Adrienne almost instinctively, drawn to the vulnerability in her voice and power in her eyes. It was almost seductive, the way she looked at him as though he could fix everything that had happened and maker her whole again.

He grabbed her small hand, encasing it with both of his own. He closed his eyes, seeking out the shield he'd placed over the angelic part of her. Finding it, he grabbed it, using what little grace he had left to rip it apart and dissolve, refusing to leave even a single atom resting over her.

Adrienne gasped as she felt fire fill her body, her soul, her _grace_. Her eyes and body glowed with a white light that flooded the room, burning its contents. Vetis was tempted to cover his eyes, but knew that it wouldn't kill him, would only burn his eyes that had not seen another angel's true form in so long.

Adrienne collapsed onto the floor as her chair was destroyed, and began to force in breaths she no longer needed, feeling the new found energy thrum under her skin. She wanted to tear her skin away, wanted to force out this new power that felt like electricity thrumming through every part of her body.

The burnt floor, the red walls, the lights on the ceiling - everything was so much more now. It was as though she had been living with her eyes closed her entire life and had finally opened them. There was a lound, pounding sound that she couldn't place, and rushing liquid that seemed to be coming from everywhere and nowhere at once. She realized it was her heart beating, faster and louder than any drum, and the liquid was her blood running through her veins, trapped under her skin and waiting to burst free. She breathed in through her nose and smelled her own flesh and blood, the thick scent of hormones, and a thousand other things from in and outside the building that she couldn't place. Adrienne put her hands over her ears, writhing in pain from over-stimulation, but Vetis pulled them away.

"Let it in," he told her. He wrapped his arms around her, but Adrienne pushed him away, couldn't stand the feeling of his skin pressed against hers. She clawed at her shirt, hated the rough cotton that had seemed so soft a minute ago. Then she was forced to contend with the torture that was the carpet along every inch of her body, and began to scratch her skin in a desperate attempt to free herself of the sensation. A thin trail of blood formed under her nails, and Vetis grabbed her wrists and held them down. Adrienne struggled against him for a few seconds before giving up. She whimpered in pain as tears flowed down the sides of her head and dripped onto the floor, where they formed neat little holes that sizzled for a moment.

Adrienne rolled over onto her stomach and vomited, then groaned when the smell was added to the list of things that she hated. Vetis pulled her away and laid her on her back a couple of feet away. She made a small noise of appreciation before returning to her suffering. Vetis held her hand comfortingly. Adrienne held onto him, despite how strange it felt, in need for something familiar.

After what felt like days, but was closer to an hour, the pain began to seep away. It didn't seem as bright anymore, and soon she realized she could block out certain sounds if she wanted to. She became used to the smells and started blocking those out too. Carefully, she opened her eyes.

She looked at her arm, expecting it to look different, but it was the same that it had always been (and looked like it could uses some moisturizer). She looked up at Vetis and gasped.

He had the same face he had before, but under it he glowed brightly, but his light had dark spots in place, like bruises. His eyes were each brighter than the sun. Red wings stretched behind him, barely fitting inside the room. As she looked at them, she realized that most of the feather were fallen, and the ones that were left were burnt and bloody.

She reached out her hand, caressing his face. He leaned his head into her touch, sighing at her soft and warm it was.

"You're beautiful," she whispered.

Vetis smiled. "Thank you Goddess." Because that was what she was now - not a human, or an angel, or even a nephilim, but a being worthy of worship.

"Are all angels like this?"

He shook his head. "No, they're brighter. Less damaged."

Now she shook her head. "You're not damaged. You're perfect."

Vetis chuckled self-depreciatingly. "It's been awhile since anyone said that."

"I find that very hard to believe."

Vetis smirked, a small bit of cockiness slipping into his tone. "I'm sure you do."

Adrienne grabbed his arm. She focused on his wings, imaging them undamaged and beautiful. As she thought about it, they slowly began to change, and her eyes started glowing white. Vetis's mouth gaped open as the bones healed and the feathers regrow, far stronger than they had been before he had fallen. Before the feathers had all been the same red color and were dull. Now they varied in shade from bright scarlet to the color of bagged blood, and seemed to shimmer, reflecting back both Adrienne's and the room's light. He delicately ran a finger along one of the larger feathers, then stared at Adrienne in awe. "Thank you."

Adrienne, for her part, seemed somewhat confused, but smiled when she saw the affect she'd had on Vetis. "You're welcome." She waited a few seconds before saying, "It's true then." She hadn't been sure beforre, had been wondering in the back of her mind if Vetis was crazy. Now there was no denying it. "I'm the Antichrist."

Vetis wrinkled his nose. "No, the antichrist is a child born of a human and a demon. You're a nephilim."

"Antichrist sounds better." Adrienne smiled, and he returned the gesture. After a moment, Adrienne asked, somewhat awkwardly, "What do I do now?"

Vetis smiled at her again before standing up and reaching out for her hand. "First we get you some new clothes." Adrienne blushed under his gaze, and Vetis chuckled before continuing. "Then, you to raise Lucifer."

* * *

The book Vetis gave Adrienne was thousands of years old, older than the messiah even. It was loosely bound with dried animal sinew and seemed ready to fall apart at the slightest touch. It had a thick wooden cover to protect the thin leather pages on which were written ancient spells in blood.

"Where did you get this?" Adrienne asked Vetis.

"I saw it in a vision that your father sent to me. It has the spell to release him in it." The book had been hidden in a centuries old crypt, and had easily been in dozens of other places before that, kept safe and hidden by several demons that had gone through great pains to keep it so. They would be amongst the first to learn of Adrienne.

As Adrienne looked at the book, it made her feel slightly sick, and when he handed it to her, her knees grew weak from its power. She dropped it onto the table as though it had burned her and quickly drew her hands back, keeping them flat on her thighs.

"I don't want it."

Vetis sighed and traced his fingers along the book's cover. As an angel (albeit a fallen one), he could feel the book's power too, but instead of feeling sick, it made him feel drunk, like he'd drank a bottle of wine, but without the dulled senses or blurry sense of mind. It was almost comforting in a way. "Adrienne-"

"No! I don't like it, get it away from me!" She stood up, knocking over her chair, and stomped over to the far side of the room, desperate to put distance between herself and the book.

"Adrienne, you're being childish."

"I don't care, that thing makes me feel sick!"

"That's because you don't know it yet. A book like this is practically alive. It has a personality, opinions, and power. If you're going to use it, you need to know it."

Vetis drew her to the table (they had switched to a different room identical to the first after Adrienne had accidentally destroyed it) and handed the book to her again, and Adrienne took it reluctantly. She ran her fingers over the wooden cover. It was utterly plain, with no decoration, but still so threatening. Reluctantly, she opened it.

The rust-red words stared up at her, seeming almost mocking, written in a language unknown to humans. Her hands shook, but she forced herself to keep looking.

Adrienne felt like she should know the words, but whenever she tried to focus on them, they didn't make sense. She growled in frustration. Vetis moved behind her so that his chest presses against her back. Adrienne breathed in, simultaneously uncomfortable at how close he was, and comforted by his presence.

"Let's try something else," he suggested. He placed the book down on the table. Vetis guided her hand to the book, letting it rest on one of the pages. She could feel the grooves, could sense every molecule and how they all connected. "Close your eyes." Vetis orders, his voice was practically a whisper, his lips pressed behind her ear. Adrienne obeyed.

"Now, don't think of the spells as words. Try to feel their power."

For a few seconds, nothing happened. But as Adrienne began to grow tired of this, she felt it. It was the same feeling she'd gotten from the book earlier, but soon intensified. It felt like there were teeth digging into her mind and taking hold. She tried to yank her hand back, but Vetis held it where it was.

"Just wait," he told her, his lips brushing against the soft cartilage of her ears.

The feeling changed, softening as it recognized the power in her. It encompassed her mind, soothing her pain and making her laugh cheerfully. As Vetis watched, the words left the book and traveled up Adrienne's arms, chest, and face, dying her eyes the rust-brown color of the dried bloof before disappearing into her head. When she was done, the book was completely blank. Vetis picked it up, but felt nothing. It was dead now, its essence safe in Adrienne's mind. He dropped it onto the table and returned his attention to Adrienne.

She was swaying on her foot, face blank. Her eyes that had been so bright only minutes ago and had been literally glowing half an hour earlier were now dull and dim. She started to collapse, her arms wailing mindlessly as her legs failed to offer support, and Vetis caught her in his arms. "Adrienne? Are you alright?"

Adrienne shook her head. "I don't want to do it. So much blood, so much _death_. Please don't make me do it Vetis, please-"

"Shhh, it's okay." he cradles her in his arms, making small comforting noises. Adrienne cries, leaving fresh grooves down her cheeks. "Don't worry, I'm not going to make you do anything." Once Adrienne calms down and stops crying, he asks her, "What did you see?"

"A spell," she answers in a shell-shocked voice. "It was the spell to raise Lucifer." Vetis nodded, encouraging her to keep going. "And it had a lot of ingredients, awful things… Vetis, don't make me do the spell!"

He shook his head. "I won't, but you have to tell me what the ingredients were."

Adrienne whimpered, but continued, forcing the words out of her mouth as though they were poisonous. "There was… a heart, a human heart. It has to be the heart of someone that I cared about and betrayed."

Vetis nodded. He remembered seeing that, over a year ago now, when he had been trying to decide what to do with Adrienne. The first vision Lucifer gave him. "Keep going," he said in what he hoped was an encouraging tone.

"There were… sacrifices, demons and humans were sacrificed, dozens of them. The demons were willing, but the humans… They were slaughtered like animals. And there was… this really bright light, like yours but smaller and… undamaged."

"A human soul," he explained. "A pure one." _That might be a bit difficult_ , he thought.

Adrienne continued, sounding as though she might have been sick again if she had anything left in her stomach, "And there were five bottles of some sort of glowing, bluish-white liquid."

"Angel grace," he told her. "It's what separates us from humans. Without it, we're powerless." It occurs to him that it may not be the best idea to tell her this, but he is certain by now that she will not turn on him, so it likely won't matter. And getting the grace should be easy enough, especially if Adrienne can be trained to kill angels.

"And blood, my blood." Adrienne finished, and sounded relieved to have done so.

"Where did it happen, was there a specific place you needed to be?"

Adrienne made a pathetic, pained noise as she forced the memory back to the surface. "It was wherever Lucifer was last on earth." _Stull_ _cemetery_ , Vetis thought to himself. "Can I stop now?" Adrienne asked him. "Please Vetis, I'm so tired."

There were dark shadows under her eyes and her hands trembled weakly. Vetis nodded, feeling almost guilty for having made her recount all of it when it was clear that she'd rather forget that she'd seen it at all. "Of course you can," he said softly. Vetis carefully picked her up, allowing her head to rest against one arm as her legs hang over the other. He lays her down in the bed, and even tucks her in for good measure. When he's satisfied that she's settled, he starts to leave, but Adrienne grabs his hand. He looked at her expectantly.

Adrienne wasn't entirely sure why she had grabbed his hand; she knew that she didn't want him to go, but it would be too awkward to ask him to stay. Instead, she asked him, "What will happen if I set Lucifer free?"

Vetis was silent for a few moments before telling her, "If that happens," _When that happens_ , "Lucifer will battle Michael. If Michael wins, then we're all destroyed. If Lucifer wins," _the demons will die_ , "you, me, and all the demons will get to Earth, which Lucifer will have transformed into paradise."

"What about the humans?"

"The humans… will ascend to Heaven."

She looked at him sharply. "You mean they'll die."

"Yes," he admits, "but they're all in so much pain now. If they went to Heaven, they'll never be in pain again. It's for the best."

Adrienne didn't respond. Instead, she allowed her eyes to drift close and yawned.

Vetis chuckled and gently kissed her forehead, letting his hand rest against hers before moving back. "Get some sleep Adrienne."

Adrienne nodded tiredly and buried her face in the soft pillows, only staying awake long enough to let out a quiet, "Goodnight." Vetis chuckled at her sleeping form and left the room, thinking of how he would convince her to complete the ritual.

* * *

When Adrienne next woke, her shoulder was being roughly shaken by someone with a gray, almost skeletal hand. Her eyes widened and she hit the person's arm, pushed them away, scampering farther up the bed and drawing her blanket around herself.

The person fell backwards with a loud 'oomph', the black velvet dress shed been holding falling out of her arms and to the ground, along with the sleek black flats. Adrienne stared at her, ignoring the dress and shoes. Her bones were prominent with onlt a think layer of skin stretched over them. Her eyes were pure black and sunken into her school. There were dozens of scars covering her body - their sources varied from knives, teeth, fire, chemicals, and probably over a dozen other things that Adrienne didn't even know what they were.

But as she kept looking, she saw the woman's thick black hair, pale skin, and vibrant green eyes, laid over her like an almost completely sheer layer of fabric.

"Dakota."

Dakota stood up, holding the arm that Adrienne had hit gingerly. Adrienne winced when she realized that she had left a large purple bruise that seemed to encompass all of Dakota's forearm. _Guess I don't know my own strength_. Adrienne slid out of the bed and walked over to Dakota, grabbing her arm carefully. She felt along the bruise, wincing when the demon hissed in pain. "I'm sorry," she said quietly.

"It's all right," Dakota responded, though her voice shook, and Adrienne could tell that she had caused more pain than she had originally thought. "I should have been more careful."

Adrienne shook her head. It was not anyone else's job to keep her under control. It was her own.

"What happened to you?" Adrienne asked, referring to the wounds that decorated the demon's body.

"Hell," she said simply. "I was tortured for centuries before I became a full demon." She said it so casually, as though they were talking about the weather and not years of blood and pain.

"That's awful," Adrienne said, her voice barely above a whisper. She tried to imagine what it might be like - the smell of her own flesh burning, knives digging into every inch of her, the sight and smell of her own organs strung around her, the knowledge that no matter what was done to her body she could never die, the cruelty in her torturer's high-pitched laughter, the sight of the same scars that now litter your body on theirs as well, a cry for mercy that goes ignored, the sound of thousands, if not millions, of other people in the same position, all screaming for a savior that will never come - and realized that she could not. Whatever horrors she could think up, whatever pain she'd been through, Hell would always be worse.

Remembering what she'd done to Vetis's wings last night, Adrienne attempted a similar approach. She held the arm tightly and imagined the demon's body free of scars or bruises. Inch by inch, a light overtook Dakota's body, slowly fleeing from one spot to another as it healed her, leaving only smooth skin, until she was completely healed.

Dakota looked at her in awe - a feeling Adrienne was beginning to become familiar with - and said, "Thank you."

There was fire in Adrienne's eyes, and she surprised even herself by saying, "Don't thank me. I'm only fixing God's mistakes."

* * *

A/N: The poem at the beginning of this chapter is "my paradise lost (and found)" and was written by dvoyd on tumblr, who kindly allowed me to use it in this story. Please do not use it without her permission.


	5. Part One — Chapter Five

Part One: Dark One

Chapter Five: The Opposite Of Love

* * *

 _"We're all killers. We've all killed parts of ourselves to survive._  
 _We've all got blood on our hands. Something somewhere had to die so we could stay alive."_

* * *

 _April 7th, 2011_

The sound of cracking stone reverberated through the room. The plain gray rock rested atop a pillar in the center of the room, its surface marred by the few cracks that Adrienne had managed.

Adrienne lowered her arm, leaning forward to rest her hands on her knees as it started to become difficult for her to breathe. Sweat beaded at her brow.

Vetis stepped forward from his spot alongside Dakota against the wall. "Maybe we should take a break."

Adrienne looks at him in annoyance. "We? I'm sorry, are you the one who is trying and failing to destroy a freakin' rock with his mind?" Vetis didn't answer. "I'll take that as a 'no'."

Adrienne straightened, accepting the glass of water that Dakota offered, downing it at once. "I don't get it." She said irritably, handing the glass goblet back to Dakota. "I was able to heal both of you just yesterday. Why can't I do this?"

"Those were emotional responses," Vetis explained calmly. "Your grace recognized that you were upset and set out to fix it. They were more in response to what you were feeling than anything else." After a moment, he added, "Not to mention power like that is exhausting."

"Then what am I supposed to do?"

"I don't see why you're so upset. You as much as told me you don't want to raise Lucifer last night, so we don't really have any time restraints."

"Who gives a fuck about that? I want to find and kill the angels that murdered my family, and I want to do it now!"

"Well we don't have anything to make it easier, so you're just going to have to keep practicing."

Adrienne ground her teeth and glared daggers at the fallen angel.

Dakota stepped forward. "There is something that we could try, if you're open to the idea."

Vetis narrowed his eyes at the demon. "What are you talking about?"

"Demon blood."

For a brief moment, no one spoke. Then Adrienne said, "Do you think you could maybe expand on that?"

"Think about it. Demon blood can give or enhance psychic powers. That's what happened to Azazel's children. Why

shouldn't it help Adrienne? I would, of course, be happy to provide my own blood, ma'am."

Vetis thought about this for a few seconds, then turned to Adrienne. "Adrienne, do you think you'd be okay with that?"

"No. I can't do that." She shook her head rapidly, trying to shake the images that her mind had conjured. She saw long, jagged scars scattered across Dakota's skin as blood flowed freely from them.

"Adrienne," Vetis began, stepping forward and grabbing her arm. "I understand why you're uncomfortable, but this is bigger than that. If you can't even destroy a rock, then how are you ever gonna kill an angel? This is about becoming more powerful for the greater good."

Though Adrienne shifted uncomfortably, she made no attempt to get Vetis to let go of her before she looked at Dakota. She was standing silently with her hands loosely clasped in front of her. When she felt Adrienne's eyes on her, she moved one of her arms in front of her in a silent invitation.

After a minute of awkward silence, Adrienne said, "Okay, maybe, if you guys think it will work…"

Vetis smiled and clapped once. "Great. Dakota, bring me that cup Adrienne had earlier."

Dakota picked the glass up from the spot that she'd placed it on the floor earlier. Vetis took it and gave it to Adrienne, along with a brief command to hold it. He grabbed Dakota's arm, briefly running his hand along the smooth skin. Adrienne frowned and subtly crossed her arms as she looked on.

Vetis grabbed Dakota's wrist and drew a finger along the expanse of her arm. As he did, it turned pink before splitting open, allowing the blood to flow freely from the cut. Adrienne quickly held the glass to catch it. When it was full, Dakota's skin healed seamlessly without leaving even a small scar.

Adrienne held the glass uncertainly, her stomach turning at the smell of blood, so similar to when she'd found Zaccheus in the kitchen, but with none of the rot, and much more metallic. She looked to Vetis helplessly.

"Don't worry," he said calmly, "Think of it as a glass of wine."

"I don't like wine," she said distantly, but held the glass to her lips as she caught his reassuring gaze. Carefully, she opened her mouth and let the blood in.

Adrienne remembered getting a paper cut during her first week of college. She'd sucked on her finger until it was clean of blood. It hadn't been enough to taste much of anything really, but this was. It was incredibly metallic ( _How do vampires drink this shit? Are vampires real? Why am I thinking about this?_ ), but mixed with that was a strong, intoxicating taste that actually did vaguely remind her of wine. She supposed that was from the demon part of Dakota rather than the blood itself.

She drank it quickly, wishing she had some water to help wash done the bitter taste. The glass began to fall as she swayed from side to side, but Vetis caught it and handed it to Dakota.

Adrienne didn't really feel any different, and if anything was just really grossed out now and hoped this would work, because otherwise she had just drank a cup of her friend's blood for nothing. She wondered if she should feel drunk or high, but she was honestly starting to get bored and decided to see if it had worked.

She concentrated on the stone again, focusing her power into a single point, like a knife, as she imagined the rock imploding, blowing bits of itself across the room. It responded almost as soon as she thought of it, sending large chunks and tiny, sand-sized pieces of rock flying across the room. She raised her hand without thinking, immediately stopping them in their tracks before they could hit her. She stood with her eyes wide in amazement before putting the rocks back in place, reforming the stone on its pedestal.

The room was silent before Vetis started to clap. "Adrienne, that was wonderful!" He grinned happily, allowing his irises and pupils to revert back to their marbled-red state. Adrienne practically glowed from his praise.

"Thank you," she said, a little smugly. And why shouldn't she be smug? She was on the right track to avenging her family, was more powerful than she'd ever been and was learning to control that power. She allowed herself to indulge in the fantasy of angels begging for mercy before being struck down, then silently chastised herself for being so sadistic. This was not about pleasure; this was about justice.

Vetis noticed her silence and thought she was tired. "Adrienne, we don't have to do anything else today if you want to take a break."

"No", Adrienne insisted, "I want to keep going. There is work to be done."

* * *

 _April 12th, 2011_

Within a few days, Adrienne had mastered her telekinesis and could teleport herself along with Dakota several miles, though Vetis forbid that as it removed her from the protection of the house. For breakfast, Dakota had made sure she had two glasses of blood. Apparently, Vetis had told her that Adrienne would need it for her training today. She cheerfully appeared in the training room with Dakota immediately after breakfast. What she saw stopped her in her tracks.

A man was chained to the wall with manacles around his wrists and ankles. Ugly tattoos were patterned on his bald head and next to each of his eyes. He was wearing one of those ugly orange jumpsuits with spots of blood and dirt at random intervals. Gray duct tape covered his mouth, muffling any words he might have had. He seemed exhausted with his head hung low and lidded-eyes.

Vetis was pulling on one of the chains, testing it. He smiled at Adrienne when he saw her, dropping the chain. "Morning Adrienne. I want you to meet my new friend, Mr… Well I don't actually know his name. And he's not really my friend. I'm not sure where I was going with that. Let's start over. Morning Adrienne!"

It was so surreal, Adrienne wasn't sure if she was awake or dreaming. Vetis took her arm and led her to the middle of the room like he always did, so that at least was normal. But that still left the mystery prisoner, who was attempting to shout at her through his duct tape. "Vetis, who is that?" She spoke in Enochian, another skill she had learned. Even as she spoke, she stared at the man who looked at her pleadingly with black eyes.

" _That_ ," he said, "is your next assignment." He flopped down easily into a chair, casual and graceful all at once, crossing his legs at the ankles with his arms behind his head. "Kill him."

Adrienne whipped around to face him, too stunned to speak for several seconds. " _What_?"

Vetis nodded. It was clear that he thought it was simple and wasn't entirely sure why Adrienne didn't. "Kill him. I figure it won't be hard. Doesn't even have to be messy. Just stop his heart, or his lungs or brain. Should be easy for you."

"Vetis… I can't _kill_ someone."

He shrugged. "Why not?" He sounded curious, though he looked at her knowingly, mouth curving into a smile as though he had a secret no one else knew. His vessel's eyes were a gold brown, like solidified sunlight mixed with rich amber. He was almost always staring at her, and usually it made her feel warm, but right now Adrienne almost wanted to hit him, could strangle him for how casually he was treating another person's life. In times like these, it was easy for her to remember that he was an angel.

"Oh, come on Adrienne." Vetis rolled his eyes and sat up, leaning forward so his elbows rested on his thighs. "You said before that you want to kill angels. This is just a step in that direction." He turns to Dakota and tells her to get him a cup of coffee, and she lives with a quick curtsy, effectively removing the one person in the room that Adrienne had still hoped would be on her side. She bounces out much like how she'd come in, leaving Adrienne feeling cold and abandoned.

Vetis stands up carefully, approaching Adrienne the way one might a frightened animal. Adrienne crossed her arms and backed away from him. He moved slowly, wrapping his hands around her upper arms and sliding them down to her wrists, uncrossing her arms and pulling her hands up to his face. He presses a kiss to the tops of her fingers, and she feels her resistance start to melt away under his understanding gaze. "Adrienne," he begins, sounding serious for the first time today, "I know that this is hard, but sometimes sacrifices must be made. This is something that needs to be done if you're to continue on your path." He sees the doubt in her face, and keeps going. "Besides, he's hardly a good person. He's a killer, like the angels that took your family. He's no more merciful than they were."

Distantly, Adrienne feels like it shouldn't be sweet that Vetis picked a criminal for her to kill, but it is in a way. He knew that she could never kill an innocent so instead he chose this man, this thing. Well, maybe that's more manipulative than sweet, but it still feels nice.

Vetis turns Adrienne so that she faces the man. Vetis is still behind her, one hand grabbing her forearm and raising it. Mindlessly, she shapes her hand into a fist.

Adrienne stares into the man's black eyes, dark as any demon's, and imagines him as the angel that killed Zac.

It's easy.

In fact, it's almost disappointing how easy it is. She thinks of the man's heart, pumping blood throughout his body, strong enough to take decades of strain, but not strong enough to resist when she forces it to stop, as though frozen in time. The man reaches for his chest, but the chains don't allow enough movement for him to do so, and they sump against the wall instead. Now the only heart that's beating is her own, and if it's faster than usual, she ignores it easily enough.

She decides to speed the process up and does the same to his lungs, cutting off his supply of oxygen as his blood grows stale. It takes several minutes, during which Adrienne stands unblinking as she tried to justify this to herself.

 _It's for Zac, it's for mom and dad, he's not a good person, I have to do it -_

The man dies with his eyes open.

* * *

Adrienne hears his cries in her sleep. She wakes up with her hand pressed to her chest, relieved to feel her heart beating steadily under her skin, and wonders if she will ever sleep again.

* * *

 _April 13th, 2011_

Dread threatens to suffocate Adrienne the next morning as she walks to the training room, hoping against hope that Vetis has no more plans of death.

It's a woman this time, with a terrified face and piercing hazel eyes.

 _They look like Zac's_ , Adrienne thinks while forcing down a sob.

Vetis encourages her to think of a different way of killing her than the method she used yesterday, but all she can think of is getting the woman's eyes off of her.

Still, it's difficult for her to even question Vetis knowing all that he's done for her, and so she does not argue with him now, even though the mere thought of anything happening to those lovely eyes is almost enough to send her crying and screaming. She clenches her jaw to force her own silence, and does as she is told.

Instead of stopping the organs like she did yesterday, she speeds them up, forcing the heart to beat faster and the lungs to take in too much oxygen. The woman's screams are muffled and her eyes are wide, but Adrienne does not stop because this is what she has to do.

The blood vessels in the woman's eyes burst. Adrienne lets out a breath she didn't know she was holding when she sees that they are red.

* * *

Adrienne wonders if Vetis can bring people back from the dead, but immediately dismisses the thought. If he could do that, her family would be safe and warm and happy, and it would be enough even if they never saw each other again.

* * *

 _April 17th, 2011_

 _Killing humans is ridiculously easy_ , Adrienne thinks as she examines her latest test (she can't bring her to think of the as victims, because that puts them in the same category as Zac and mom and dad, and she needs to do this). So far every death has been more or less clean, and though the thought is almost terrifying, she is swiftly becoming bored.

It's that thought that drives her to experiment more with this new man. He implodes, covering her in a layer of blood and flesh and other stuff she does not want to think about.

Dakota moves to help clean her, but Vetis waves her away, insisting he do it himself. He smiles and even hums a bit as he runs the washcloth over Adrienne's body, red eyes sparkling. And if Adrienne feels her heart stutter at the sight, that's for her alone to know about.

* * *

Vetis isn't quite sure what he's doing when he decides to help Adrienne after she covers herself in what little is left of the man, but he does know that she is so bright that it is almost hard to look at her, and even her (sadly) human body is far superior to that of others. And it is especially nice when she shivers under his touch and her pupils dilate.

* * *

Adrienne doesn't dream.

* * *

 _April 22nd, 2011_

People always talk about how the human body can survive under extreme situations and circumstances, but none of them know what she does. They don't know how easy it is to stop the organs, or how to send them into overdrive until they stop themselves. They don't know the feeling of forcing a person's cells to multiply at an insane rate, watching their body become deformed by the cancer in a matter of seconds. It's easy to force a person's blood through the pores in their skin, and it's almost funny to watch when she makes them hallucinate their worst fears.

This person is a demon, the first that Vetis has brought her. He is a traitor, a follower of Crowley - _the false king_ \- and a threat to their continued existence.

The vessel is already dead, though Adrienne hardly cares. She distantly notes that he has hazel eyes, but that's not important. What is important is that she single out the demon instead of the body, and obliterate it. Vetis calls it smiting, and it's more instinctual than anything else she's done so far. It burns the vessel's eyes out, and Adrienne makes a curious noise when she realizes that it's how Zac died.

 _Huh_.

* * *

Adrienne sleeps soundly on silk sheets. She dreams of Vetis.

* * *

A/N: The poem at the beginning of this chapter is "if memories could bleed, if dreams could scream" and was written by dvoyd on tumblr, who kindly allowed me to use it in this story. Please do not use it without her permission.

The title of this chapter comes from the quote by Elie Wiesel, "The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference."


	6. Part One — Chapter Six

Part One: Dark One

Chapter Six: What Demons Worship And Angels Fear

* * *

 _You say that I'm a monster;_  
 _Trust me, I know._  
 _How do you think I learned to spit my words like poison_  
 _And rip into my surroundings?_

 _I embraced my true self,_  
 _The demon nature in me,_  
 _And dedicated myself to learning the art_  
 _Of deceit and trickery and theft._  
 _I have a great appreciation of destruction and chaos, you see._

 _It's a treat to see this much suffering_  
 _In the one that sits before me,_  
 _Once called stoic; you're pathetic._  
 _Begging for mercy from one so unyielding as I._

* * *

 _April 25th, 2011_

The dress Dakota brought Adrienne fell to the floor, wine-red silk wrapping tightly around her body, tight around her waist, courtesy of the black belt. Black tungsten earrings with rubies hang from her ears. A matching choker was aptly named, so tightly clasped she could barely breathe, though she did not need to. Her hair fell in its natural waves, a careful braid from each side of her head coming together in the middle, with her head crowned with a thin circlet circlet. Adrienne sipped at the demon blood which Dakota had mixed some wine into, which made it less metallic even if she couldn't stand the smell. Dakota carefully applied eye shadow to her while she stood still in front of the full-length mirror. She's dressed in a more minimalist style, but still beautiful in a black velvet gown with an emerald-green sash and matching flats.

The demon caught her nervous look and smiled comfortingly. "Don't worry. Everything's going to be alright."

"Easy for you to say," Adrienne replied, but didn't continue even at Dakota's prompting. The demon soon shrugged and continued her work, soon beginning the lipstick.

The door opened, allowing Vetis to come in, smiling when he saw her. "You look lovely," he said quickly standing in front of her.

Adrienne turned to him nervously, accidentally causing Dakota to smear her makeup. "Are they here?"

Vetis nodded eagerly. "Over two dozen."

"That's not a lot," Adrienne said thoughtfully.

"Don't worry, these are just the most powerful of Lucifer's old circle. There are hundreds, thousands even more who still follow him."

"Well that makes me so much less nervous."

Vetis smiled and brushed her hair back, caressing her face. "Relax. They will love you."

"I don't care if they love me," Adrienne said bitingly, "I only care whether or not they will follow me."

Vetis was relentless in his cheer. "They will. How could they not? You are the most powerful thing to have walked this earth since your father. They know that."

"And if they don't?"

"Then show them." He smiled as though there was a secret only he knew and leaned in to stage whisper to her. "Also, I have a gift for you." He leaned back on his feet, cheerful.

"Really? What is it?" Her anticipation made her remember her last Christmas, which coincided with her birthday. Last year's celebration was the only real memory of it, and something she held very close to her.

Vetis shook his head. "I can't tell you that. It's a surprise."

Adrienne pouted. "I hate surprises."

"I know," he cooed, brushing her hair back. "But this one will be worth the wait." Vetis was silent for a moment before motioning to the door with his head. "Come on. It's time to meet your people." He took her arm, leading her through out to the dark hall, lit only by pillar candles in sconces every few feet. Dakota followed them. They walked silently down the hall. Adrienne thought they were like a funeral procession, idly remembering her grandfather's funeral before it slipped between her fingers, leaking out of her mind as she realized it was fake.

They stopped at a black door with a bronze handle. Vetis went in the room first, holding up a hand when Adrienne attempted to follow him, leaving her alone with the demon before Dakota silently left to enter the room through a different door in the back where the others had gone while Adrienne stood alone in the hall, entertaining herself by changing the colors of the fire produced by the ivory candles in the sconces.

* * *

Vetis felt he'd earned the right to be smug as the demons' eyes fell on him. Could any of them have accomplished what be did? Of course not. He had taken an innocent girl and turned her into a vengeful, terrifying killer in a matter of weeks. No demon could have done that.

Before he came in, the demons had been talking amongst themselves, likely wondering why Vetis had summoned them out of hiding. Now they stopped, silently staring at him. He knew they wanted to speak, to ask questions, but they knew what he was and were unsure of whether or not they could trust that he wouldn't kill them for it.

For the most part, they were followers of Lucifer from the first apocalypse, but there was one that was a spy from Crowley. He was also an idiot, easily picked out from the others by his expensive black suit. Vetis had no doubt that he would do or say something stupid, allowing himself or Adrienne to make an example of him. It wouldn't matter if he didn't. There was warding throughout the house to prevent any of the demons from leaving unless Vetis allowed it. He was not getting out of here alive.

The demon spoke up now, "Why are we here?"

Vetis smirked, appearing next to him. "Excellent question."

Several demons jumped back in fear. Vetis slowly walked throughout the room, making sure all eyes were on him.

"Everyone here," he said, voice echoing throughout the room, "was a follower of Lucifer. I trust," he paused, looking around at the nervous red and black eyes, "that everyone still is?

The demons nodded eagerly, some of them speaking to assure him that they would never betray Lucifer or his fallen brother. Crowley's spy was still.

Vetis smiled, brown eyes shining. "Standing outside that door," he pointed to the balcony, "is Adrienne Lucille Morgenstern."

A few of the demons - members of Lucifer's inner circle - were shocked, eyes wide as they stared where he'd pointed. The majority just looked at each other in confusion, wondering why that was important.

Vetis continued, "Adrienne, is the daughter of Lucifer."

Confusion swept through the crowd. Several of the demons gave out little shouts that Vetis hoped Adrienne didn't hear, and seemed to be moving far more than was necessary.

Annoyed, and a bit angry, Vetis stomped on the floor, gritting his teeth as his eyes flashed red and his hands formed fists. "Shut up!"

The demons stood still and stared at him for several minutes. Finally, the spy claimed, "That's not possible! There are no children of Lucifer, and there never have been!"

Vetis closed his eyes and grit his teeth, feeling the vein in his forehead pulse as he attempted to reign in his anger. After a moment he opened his eyes, brown again, and smiled cheerfully, sadistically. The spy squirmed and shrank back.

Vetis said, "There never has been before, no. But Adrienne was born when Lucifer was last on earth, during the apocalypse."

One of them demons frowned before saying, "But that was only one, two years ago. Anyone born then would be a toddler, barely able to stand on its own -"

"Adrienne was aged using magic. She's an adult now, and is here to raise Lucifer from his prison." Rather or not she wants to is a completely different matter.

"How powerful is she?" Another woman asked. "Can she kill angels?"

Vetis smiled. "Let's find out."

* * *

The door opened, and Adrienne quickly bounced off of the wall she'd been leaning against, straightening her back and running a hand through her hair. She saw Vetis, motioning for her to join him. She walked slowly, trying not to look like she was about to pass out. It was similar to the feeling one had when you had to present a project, except with demons instead of students or coworkers. The thought was not comforting.

Once past the door, she realized the two of them were standing alone on a wrought iron balcony. Vetis stood off to the side as she stepped forward, wrapping her hands around the railing. Beside the fallen angel was a small stand, reminiscent of the controls used for rides at amusement parks, with a few colored buttons. Below them, over twenty demons stared up with black and red eyes that glinted in the soft candlelight, mouths gaping. They stared at each other, none of them sure what exactly they were supposed to do, while Vetis stood off to the side looking smug. It was clear that they did not know what to make of her. Adrienne caught Dakota's gaze in the back. The demon nodded to her and smiled reassuringly. It did little to help her nerves.

So quietly a human wouldn't have heard from where she was standing, one of the demons snorted.

Adrienne's eyes narrowed as she looked down on the demon. He caught her gaze and held it, looking incredibly sure of himself in an impeccable black suit, smirking in a way that reminded her of Vetis, which was unnerving in and of itself.

Without moving, Adrienne allowed her eyes to shine white as she sought out the demon, slowly smiting it. It fell to its knees on the ground, clawing desperately at its throat as though someone were choking it. The demons backed away in shock and fear, leaving the area around it clear for several feet. It screamed as her light encompassed it, burning away the life. When she was done, all that was left was a cold body and two burnt eye sockets.

The demons were silent, some staring at the body, others gaping up at her. One by one, they lowered themselves, to the ground, kneeling with their heads bowed. Confused, Adrienne turned to Vetis. He merely smiled at her and kneeled, like a knight. She turned back to the demons, who were still kneeling. Adrienne took a deep breath and adopted a cold countenance before speaking. "Rise."

The demons stood almost in unison, rapt with attention.

Adrienne was at a lost with what to do. Vetis squeezed her arm reassuringly and looked to the crowd. "Your fealty is admirable, but Adrienne has yet to do anything worthy of such praise."

Adrienne looked at him like he was crazy. Vetis winked at her and mouthed 'trust me'. As of two seconds ago she was

no longer sure that was a good idea, but she listened to him and turned back to the room, hoping that she didn't look as sick as she felt.

Vetis kept talking. "Anyone can kill a demon. I can, any of you could. It's easy. But angels... that's a completely different story." He moved back to the metal box Adrienne had seen when she came in and pressed a few of the buttons.

The sound of metal moving against metal filled the room as the space in the middle of the floor shifted. Demons quickly backed out of the way, forcing themselves against the wall so that they were all pressed much closer than would be comfortable.

There was a hole in the floor. Through it rose a platform. On the left and right side were poles standing several feet, made of a gleaming white material with matching chains. Secured by the chains was a man, completely naked, with his bowed head shadowing his body, his chains too tight around his wrists to allow any give. His chest, back, and arms were covered in cuts, some no more than scratches, others more akin to gouges. His pale blond hair framed him like a halo.

 _Angel_.

The demons screamed in excitement, like fans at a rock concert. They jeered and threw insults at the angel, who refused to acknowledge their presence. Adrienne's stomach lurched when Vetis teleported them onto the stage, raised a few inches from the ground. Vetis was a step behind her. He grabbed her hand and pressed a triple-edged dagger into her hand. When she looked at it, she saw that it was of the same material as the poles and chains.

The angel was absolutely pitiful, more so than any human or demon she had killed. For a moment, she thought of mercy.

Vetis stood close to her back and whispered to her, lips brushing against her ear, "This is one of the angels sent to find you. He watched as your father died."

Adrienne's thoughts of kindness died as her gaze turned hard. The angel - _Kushiel_ , Vetis whispered - looked up at her. Its vessels eyes were golden, but Adrienne could see past that to the light, far brighter than Vetis was, though the fallen angel had once far outshone his captured brother. Kushiel's face changed from brief confusion to pure disgust as he grit his teeth and snarled at her. " _Abomination_."

Adrienne calmly walked around to the back of the angel. If she focused enough, she could see its golden wings. They were uninjured.

Angel wings existed on another dimension, but they could be pulled into this one, usually by the angel. Now Adrienne gripped one of them, forcing into physical form. The angel jerked and tried to pull away, but her grip was too strong. She traced the bone connecting it to the back with the blade. Without blinking, she severed it. It fell to the ground without interference, leaving blood and grace to cover the left side of the angel's back.

Kushiel let out a high-pitched scream that sounded throughout the room. The demons cheer, but Adrienne didn't notice them, too busy was she with the other wing. It joined its brother on the floor. The angel's head drooped lower than before, too weak to look up.

Adrienne's face twisted into a sneer as she dropped the blade, hearing it clamor on the floor. She grabbed the angel's face, digging her nails into his cheeks, gouging the flesh. It whimpered as Adrienne forced it to look at her, pressing their foreheads together.

"You're right," she said, voice barely above a whisper. "I'm an abomination, and a monster, and a nephilim." Blood spilled down his cheeks as Adrienne dug her nails in further, eyes white. "And I am going to burn your world down."

The angel exploded when Adrienne finished talking, sending blood, flesh, and silver-blue grace flying across the room, covering Adrienne and most of the demons within a second. The chains fell to the stage.

The demons were still, stunned into silence. After a few seconds, they began to cheer as Adrienne stood, face red from blood, dress ruined. Vetis stood behind her, smiling proudly.

* * *

Crowley resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the demon in front of him. He was dressed more simply than his partner had been, with a plain t-shirt and worn jeans. It was simpering with its head hung low, seemingly trying to find what to say.

"Well?" Crowley asked impatiently. "What happened? Where's the other one?"

The demon gulped, eyes flashing black from nerves. "She killed him."

Crowley blinked. "Who killed him?"

"Adrienne."

"Who the bloody hell is Adrienne?" He was starting to get seriously irritated.

"Adrienne Morgenstern. She's Lucifer's daughter."

Crowley laughed. "That's insane. Lucifer doesn't have any children."

The demon shook his head. "I saw her. She killed Henry without even touching him. She killed an angel."

Crowley frowned. "What did she use? An angel blade?"

The demon hesitated before saying, "She used a blade to cut off its wings, but she killed it with her mind."

Crowley thought on this for several seconds before saying, "Charles-"

"My name is James."

Crowley scowled at him. " _Charles_ , as of now your job is to find out everything you can about Adrienne. Now leave, before I feed you to Juliet."

* * *

A/N: The poem from the beginning is "And all the King's horses and all the King's men couldn't stop hell from coming to them" by steebucks on tumblr.


	7. Part One — Chapter Seven

Part One: Dark One

Chapter Seven: Supernatural

* * *

 _April 27th, 2011_

"Dean," Sam said, staring at his computer as his brother flicked through the TV channels, "Have you seen this?"

"Seen what?" Dean asked without turning to look at him, sounding bored.

"A little over a month ago, a couple and their son, the Morgensterns, were found dead in their home in a small town near Lawrence. Police just released the report yesterday."

"Lawrence? Lawrence, Kansas Lawrence?"

Sam nodded once without humor. "That Lawrence. According to the report, their eyes were burnt out, but there were no other signs of injury. Police don't know how they died."

Dean frowned and looked at his brother, putting the remote down. "We thinkin angels? Sounds like smiting."

Sam shrugged. "Possibly. The really strange thing about it is that they died on the same day that their daughter, Adrienne, was supposed to visit for spring break."

Dean swung his legs over the bed to the floor so he was facing Sam. "Do they think she had something to do with it?"

"They don't even know where she is. The last anyone heard from her was earlier that day when she was talking to her boyfriend. He was supposed to head over to their house the next day." After a moment, he asked Dean, "Do you think we should check it out?"

Dean sighed. "I don't know man. I don't really want to get tangled up in any angel business. And I'd really rather avoid getting too close to that place again. Besides, aren't you still recovering from Cas pulling you out of hell? Not really the best time for a hunt."

"Dean, I swear I'm fine, okay? I'm getting antsy just sitting in hotels all the time. And besides, it didn't happen _in_ Lawrence. It happened a few towns over from Lawrence."

"Okay, if you think you're up for it we can leave later."

"Great." After an awkward moment of silence, he closed his computer and got up. "I'm gonna go get something to eat."

"No Mexican," Dean warned, "I'm not sitting in a car with you all day if you're gonna release a stink bomb every two seconds."

Sam rolled his eyes. "Gross, Dean."

"That's what I'm saying."

* * *

Officer Speight - a short man in his fifties or sixties with white hair and plain clothes - let them into the Morgenstern's house, shaking his head sadly as he did so. "It's a damn shame what happened to them. They were good people. Moved here in late April of last year. Did volunteer work every week, twice a week if they could. More harmless than a bunny."

Dean and Sam nodded silently as they walked into the living room, glancing around for anything suspicious. The officer asked them, "What are your names again?"

Dean replied, "I'm agent Collins and this is my partner agent Gabriel. Officer, can you tell me how the bodies were found?"

Officer Speight sighed again before saying, "Well somebody definitely moved Zac, because he was tucked into his bed when we found him, but his blood was in the kitchen."

"Blood?" Sam asked.

"From his eyes," the officer explained. "There was also a pile of vomit around the blood, but we had it tested, and it wasn't his."

Dean's eyebrows furrowed before he asked, "Do you have any idea whose it was?"

Speight shook his head. "None. Anyway, Josef and Mariam were found in the backyard. Their neighbor spotted them a few hours after what happened."

"And which neighbor found them?"

"Luke. Luke Blaylock. He's one house to the left of here; he looked over the fence in the backyard to check on them - because of the earthquake, you know - and found them then." Speight shook his head sadly. "Poor man. He was good friends with them. Adrienne used to babysit his daughter before she left."

Sam made a sympathetic noise while looking at a family picture on the mantle over the fireplace in the living room. Mariam was olive-skinned with brown hair and green eyes, while Josef's skin was more akin to ebony, his eyes hazel like his son's. Zac was a tiny boy that hadn't quite grown into his limbs yet and messy hair. The picture of innocence. Adrienne had her father's dark hair and eyes darker than anyone else's in her family. Her dress was white with muted purple as an accent color. A white rose rested in her braided hair. "I can't imagine."

"Kind of weird names, don't ya think?" Dean asked. "Mariam, Josef, Zaccheus. Not really the sort of thing you hear everyday."

"Well Mariam was Greek, and I guess she wanted her son to have a name that showed it. And Josef was German. I'm pretty sure their name, Morgenstern, means 'morning star', or something like that." Speight shrugged his shoulders. "He took a lot of pride in it."

Sam nodded as they made their way to the kitchen, the scent of bleach heavy in the air. The entire house had been cleaned as soon as the bodies had been moved, so there was no real evidence to be found there. "And they were in the same state as their son?"

"Well their eyes were burnt out, but they weren't moved." Speight handed over a few photos of the kitchen as they'd found it. There was a tiny bit of blood on the floor, and near it, a larger puddle of vomit that was mostly bile. The photo had been taking in the evening, though the doctors had said they were probably killed sometime in the morning, hours before Adrienne would have even left her school. The next photo showed Zac as seen from the doorway, with his head turned so you couldn't see his eyes. He looked like he was sleeping, neatly tucked in with his arms to either side of his head. The one after that allowed no such illusion; Zac's head had been turned so as to allow the photographer to see his face clearly. Where his eyes had been, there were now only burnt reddish-black pits. Sam heard his brother draw his breath; Dean always did hate working hunts that involved kids. Sam put those pictures away quickly, moving onto the ones with Mariam and Josef. They had fallen down in the backyard, limbs flailed randomly about, like marionettes with their strings cut. Josef's face (what was left of it, at least) was one of horror. Sam imagined he had seen his wife die. Their eyes were the same as their son's, dark blood staining the grass beneath their heads, leaving small streaks down their faces. There was a white picket fence around the backyard, large enough to keep people out, not too large that you couldn't look over it if you wanted to.

"And there were no other injuries?" Dean asked, looking up from the photos.

Speight shook his head. "None. Other than their eyes, they were all in perfect health. Our boys at the morgue have no idea what could have caused it. It's just… _weird_."

"Speaking of weird," Dean began, "have you or anyone else noticed any strange noises in the house, or cold spots?"

The officer looked at him strangely before replying, "No, no one has. Why?

Dean shrugged the question off. "Standard question. What about black smoke, sudden bright lights, or sulfur?"

"No, I haven't seen anything like that? What's it have to do with anything -"

"We're just asking in case this has anything to do with some other cases where people reported those things. Has anyone noticed anything strange? Apart from the murders themselves, of course."

The officer thought for a moment before saying, "Well yeah actual. They were killed the same day there was an earthquake. I'm sure you boys already know that - I think I mentioned it a couple of times - but we didn't put it in the report. "

Dean's eyebrows quirked in interest. "Really? Why not?"

"Well we didn't think it really mattered since they obviously weren't killed by an earthquake, but it was the first one we'd had here in years. Granted, it wasn't really that bad, but it was still kind of weird, don't ya think?"

Dean nodded. "Not the weirdest thing I've ever heard, but I guess it's strange. We will take it into consideration. Also, we heard that Adrienne Morgenstern was supposed to come back to town on the day they died, but no one has been able to find her. Do you think she might have had something to do with it?"

Speight shook his head. "Never. I didn't know her as well as I did Mari or Jo, but she was a nice girl. Loved her family, very smart. She couldn't hurt a fly, and she definitely couldn't have killed anyone."

"Then what do you think happened?" Sam asked.

"I think whoever killed the others probably found her and finished the job. There's no way she had anything to do with this."

Dean nodded, thinking about what Speight said before asking him, "Do you know of any enemies that the Morgenstern's might have had?"

"No. Everyone liked them. Oh sure, they had a few spats sometimes, but it was only ever minor stuff y'know.

"It's usual the 'minor stuff' that people remember," Dean said.

Before Speight could say anything to that, Sam said, "We heard that Adrienne's boyfriend, Adam, is in town. Do you think you could tell us where he is so we could ask him a few questions?"

"Yeah, he's staying at the Regency Motel. You two have probably already seen it; it's the one of the only ones in town. Poor boy refuses to leave until he finds out what happened to her. His teachers have been sending him work to do, but if he doesn't head back soon, he's going to fail his classes."

Sam said, "Well we'll be sure to tell him that. Thank you for your time officer, we'll get back to you as soon as we know more."

* * *

Sam knocked on the hotel room's door before calling out, "Mr. Shepard, are you there?"

There was an audible shuffling from inside the room. Likely, Adam hadn't been awake. "Who is it?"

"I'm agent Gabriel and I'm with my partner, agent Collins. We're from the FBI. Can you open the door?"

They could hear the sound of the door chain moving before Sam had even finished his request. The door opened, revealing a young man with dark hair and blue eyes, rich were red-rimmed and had dark shadows under them. His hair was oily, and it was clear that neither he nor his clothes had been washed in several days. Sam felt a stab of pity for the tired individual.

"Are you here about Adrienne?" Adam asked, voice taking on a slight tone of desperation, eyes lighting up.

"Kind of. We're here to ask you some questions about Adrienne," Dean told him.

"Oh," he said, the brief light in his eyes dying. "Okay, come in." He turned away from them to sit on the bed, leaving Dean and Sam to walk in on their own. Dean wrinkled his nose when he did and almost said something about the smell, but Sam realized what he was about to do and elbowed him in the stomach.

Adam looked at them. "What do you need?"

They had decided that Sam should take the lead based on the argument that he was more tactful (Dean had grumbled at that, but eventually ceded to his brother's facts) and generally better at empathizing with strangers (Dean did not bother to argue against this). "Well we heard that you were the last person to hear from Adrienne, so we were wondering if you wouldn't mind us asking you some questions about her."

Adam sighed, shoulders hunched in a defeated position that Sam suspected had become the norm for him. "I guess I don't mind. If it helps."

"Adam, do you think you could tell us what happened the last time you and Adrienne were in contact?"

Adam nodded, face twisting in concentration. "It was March 22nd. About noon. I was headed back to my dorm, and I knew she was going to be leaving soon, so I thought I would give her a call before she started driving. She had gotten into the car and was about to leave. She was in a bit of a mood, but she hadn't gotten a lot of sleep the night before, so I didn't think anything of it. I told her to be safe and that I loved her, and she hung up."

Dean waited a second before asking, "That's it?" Sam looked at him sharply, but Adam didn't seem to notice the not-so-emphatic tone.

"Basically."

"And she was going to her family's house?" Sam asked.

"That was the plan. It was only a two hour drive, so I called her a few hours later, but she didn't pick up. I figured she was tired or hanging out with her family or something. But she never called me back, and I haven't heard from her since."

"And you were going to join her on March 23rd?"

"Yeah. It was supposed to be a 'meet the family' thing, you know? I showed up the next day expecting to see her, but the house was closed off and the police had surrounded it. When they found out who I was they took me in for questioning, but I didn't know anything." Adam looks like he's ready to break, only barely holding his head up.

Dean took over now, asking Adam, "Did you notice anything strange or suspicious leading up to what happened? In general, not just with Adrienne?"

"Well… nothing _suspicious_ , really. Although, I did see something kind of strange the day she left."

"Really? What was it?"

"Well, there was a man. Out on the school courtyard. He was dressed really weird, with a black sort of tunic with long sleeves and silver stuff on it. Embroidery? I think his clothes were wool (which was weird, cause it was pretty hot outside). I don't know, I was kind of far away. He was waving at a car - it looked like Adrienne's, but I guess it could have been anyone. I looked away for a second, and when I looked back, he was gone. Like, _gone_ gone. He wasn't anywhere on the courtyard." Adam shrugged. "I don't know. It was just kind of weird. Probably nothing, right?"

Sam smiled reassuringly, setting down the notepad he's been taking notes with. "Probably. But it's important that we have all information. Adam, do you know if Adrienne or the Morgensterns had any enemies?"

Adam shook his head. "No. I never did get to meet her family, but Adrienne was a good person. Absolutely harmless. And from what I've heard, the rest of her family was the same way."

Sam nodded before standing up. "Well thank you for your time, Adam. We'll be sure to update you if we find out something about Adrienne. If you need anything, just give us a call." Sam handed him a business card with one of their phone numbers printed on it. Adam nodded absently as he took it, staring at it long after they left.

Once in the car, Dean asked his brother, "So what do you think?"

"To be honest, I really don't know. I mean, it's gotta be supernatural, right?"

"Sounded like it. Probably angels."

"Yeah, but that doesn't explain the earthquake, or that man Adam saw."

Dean shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe they didn't have anything to do with it. Earthquakes happen all the time. And Adam could have just been imagining things. Or hell, maybe the guy was an angel. That would explain how he was gone when Adam looked up."

"I guess. But what would the angels even want with these people? There was nothing strange about them or their house. As far as I could tell, they were all perfectly normal people."

"Well we still don't know about Adrienne. For all we know, she could be off partying with demons while her family lies dead in a morgue."

"I don't think she had anything to do with it. The Morgensterns all died pretty early in the day. Adrienne didn't even leave her school until noon."

"Then what do you think happened to her?"

"I don't know. Maybe someone killed her and dumped her body and police haven't found it yet."

"Bet that would make her boyfriend feel better."

They drove back to their, much cheaper (and rattier), motel downtown. Dean wanted to change and head into town to get something to eat, but when they got to the room, Cas was there.

"Cas!" Dean said, smiling at his friend. "We haven't seen you in a while."

Sam watched his brother, who'd been in a dark mood only moments before, light up when he saw the angel, and tried very hard not to roll his eyes.

"Hello Dean. I wish I could say this was a social visit, but that is not the case." Not surprising. Castiel had barely had any time to see them at all since he was still rebuilding Heaven at the apocalypse. Dean liked to think he wasn't bitter, but he was never very good at telling himself the truth.

Dean frowned, reaching a hand out to Cas's arm. "What's wrong?"

Castiel was calm as he explained, "I'm here for the same reason you are: Adrienne."

"Adrienne. You know about the case?"

"I know everything about it. And that is how I know that you two should not be here. In fact, you should get as far away from here as possible. There's no telling when Adrienne will come back, or how close she is."

"Wait," Sam said, "Are you saying Adrienne killed her family?"

"What? No. The Morgensterns were killed by a faction of angels that I have yet to find. But Adrienne Morgenstern is not human; not entirely."

Castiel explained to them what Adrienne was. "None of the angels sent to find her have been found; we have no idea where on Earth she is, if she's even on Earth at all. Hell could be harboring her, for all we know."

"So what do we do?" Dean asked. "Do you want us to find her, or -"

"You will not do anything. Adrienne is more powerful than any angel in existence; if she thinks you are a threat, she will not hesitate to kill you."

"How do you know? You haven't even found her yet," Sam said.

"We cannot take that risk. Even if Adrienne herself is harmless, it is possible that she has demonic followers that will kill to protect her. And they will definitely kill you."

"C'mon Cas," Dean began.

"No. It is not safe. Either leave before tonight, or I will send you to Bobby's myself." The angel left without another word.


	8. Part One — Chapter Eight

Part One: Dark One

Chapter Eight: Trapped

* * *

 _April 27th, 2011_

Adrienne wasn't sure if she liked the throne Vetis had made for her. It was certainly beautiful - carved from shining black obsidian, a skull at its apex, roses flourishing from its left and right. But obsidian isn't exactly known for being comfy. She might have to ask Dakota to get cushions for it.

Behind her, nailed to the wall, were Kushiel's wings, their bright gold color dimmed from the loss of the angel. At their base, where they had connected to Kushiel's back, there was still some blood and grace that Adrienne had not allowed to be cleaned.

Before her, a demon kneeled, looking incredibly nervous. Dakota, standing steadfast at Adrienne's side, said to him, "You stand before Adrienne Morgenstern, The Antichrist, Daughter of Lucifer, Queen of Hell, Savior of Demons." Vetis had tacked on the last part after Adrienne decided to make 'The Antichrist' one of her official titles. She thought it had a nice ring to it. He thought it was hilarious. "What is it you have to report?"

The demon, Aaron, leader of the demons that Vetis had made her spies, stumbled his way through his report, "M-my Queen, our spies in Crowley's c-court have reported that he has n-numerous d-demons searching for y-you."

Adrienne hummed noncommittally before asking him, "Do you know if they've made any progress towards this goal?"

The demon shook his head. "We're sure t-they haven't, ma'am. There were several s-spies within your r-ranks, but we hired several w-witches to identify t-them. They're d-dead now."

Adrienne smiled gratefully. "Thank you, Aaron. You and your teams have done very well. Please give them and the witches you hired my gratitude. You're dismissed."

Aaron quickly stood, nodding happily. "T-thank you my queen. I will b-be sure to do that." The demon left hurriedly, all but slamming the heavy oak door behind him.

As soon as he was gone, Adrienne visibly deflated, rubbing her head as it began to hurt. "Dakota, be a dear and get me some blood."

Dakota bowed her head once before picking up a wine glass off of a table a few feet away. She grabbed the dagger she kept in a sheath on her belt, silently using it to cut a line along her arm, letting her blood seep into the glass. The demon handed it to Adrienne, who sipped at it, sighing in relief as she felt her headache start to ease. "Thank you." After a moment, she added, "Is there anyone else we need to see?"

Dakota nodded. "At least five demons."

Adrienne groaned and screwed her eyes shut, exhaustion seeping into her bones. "Can it wait a few minutes? I'm tired."

"Of course we can, Adrienne," Dakota say sympathetically, fingers tracing small patterns on the back of the nephilim's hand.

Adrienne mumbled her thanks, resting her head in her hand and giving the glass of demon blood to Dakota, scooting around on the seat trying to make herself comfortable. She wasn't even really all that tired. Quite the opposite, she felt more like she was full of energy, and her body was getting lethargic from the lack of action in comparison to all she'd been doing recently. "Why are we just sitting around? We should be out there, hunting angels. I feel useless here."

Dakota set the glass down on the table, quickly moving to brush a few of her fingers through the nephilim's hair. "You're not useless. You're extraordinarily powerful. But now that you've killed one angel, the others are going to want to kill you even more. We need to be cautious."

Adrienne rolled her eyes as she bounced her leg, motioning for the blood again as she felt the headache start to come back. "Let them try. I'll just kill them like I did their brother." She took a slow sip of the blood before saying, "And I'll make it a lot more painful for them, too." The thought that she used to be scared of them was almost laughable. The angel had been ridiculously easy to kill, and Adrienne was itching to get more practice. Frankly, she was tired of being inside. She hadn't been out once since she was learning to teleport, and that had only been for a few short minutes at a time. She wanted to walk around, feel the sun on her face, and _maybe_ feel normal for a little while.

Speaking of angels… "Where's Vetis? He's supposed to be here so we can go over what to do next." That wasn't entirely true, but Vetis usually never left her side. Going by that, he should be here now, which was much more logical than the fact that she simply missed him and felt she would be less bored if he would hurry up and get his ass back here from wherever the hell he was.

Dakota shrugged her shoulders, taking the glass back as soon as Adrienne was done. "One of the demons came by and reported something to him. He left before you woke up."

"Did he tell you what he was doing?"

"He didn't tell anyone. Just said it was important and that he'd be back soon."

Adrienne sighed and slumped forward, resting her chin in her hand. "Can I get a book?"

* * *

Vetis kept an eye on the motel room's door, trying to decide on the best course of action. He could kill the Winchesters now and eliminate a potential threat - but then he would definitely be on Castiel's radar, and that was basically the same as having all of Heaven after them. Not that he doubted his or Adrienne's abilities to kill angels - especially after her little display two days ago - but he imagined that having Heaven on their collective asses could cause quite a few problems. He might be able to kill Castiel too, but the lapdog was a seraph now and he didn't want to take his chances unless he knew he could win.

On the bright side, it looked like baby brother might have convinced things 1 and 2 to get out of dodge, probably after realizing what a huge threat Adrienne might be if she decided to turn an eye to anyone sniffing around her family.

Ultimately, he decided that it was best to just keep Adrienne inside and away from any angels for the time being.

He headed back to the mansion, tucked away in the woods in the middle of nowhere. There was warding to keep out any other angels, slightly adjusted to allow himself - and earlier, Kushiel - inside. He teleported into Adrienne's makeshift throne room, smirking as he leaned on the obsidian. "Miss me?"

Adrienne weakly waved one hand at him without looking up from her book. "You bet."

Vetis leaned over her, scanning the words. "What are you reading?"

"Dante's _Inferno_."

"In the original Italian," Dakota added from her place at Adrienne's side.

Vetis made an appreciative noise. "Good book." _For a human_ , he thinks but doesn't say. "Have you read it before?"

Adrienne shook her head, still reading. "I thought I did for school. Then I realized that hadn't actually happened, and decided to read it for real."

Vetis smiled at how calmly she now accepted her fake memories, and how quick she was to replace them with real ones. "How do you like it?"

Adrienne thought for a moment before sitting up straight and closing the book. "A bit bland actually. Reminds me of reading Shakespeare. Even the interesting stuff is buried under confusing and dull language."

"Hm. Well maybe you'll like _Purgatorio_ or _Paradiso_ better."

"Maybe." She handed the book to Dakota before asking Vetis, "What have you been up to? Dakota told me you had to handle something one of the demons told you about."

"I did," he said, beginning to lean against the wall before remembering the wings pinned there, quickly straightening so as not to touch them.

Adrienne stared at him for a moment before asking, "Gonna tell me what it was?"

Vetis shook his head once. "Not important."

For a moment, Adrienne only stared at him stonily, as though growing angry. "I doubt that," she said, a sliver of ice creeping into her tone.

It was times like these, when Adrienne's eyes were dull with anger and grief, so different from the innocent child he'd known once, that Vetis feared Adrienne. He tried not to show his nerves, instead trailing one hand along her forearm. "It was nothing really. It's just that one of the demons told me that the Winchesters were looking into your family's deaths."

"What?" Adrienne started to sand, eyes glowing, but Vetis eased her back into the seat. "Don't worry, they're leaving the town, they're not going to come back. It's okay."

Adrienne stood up so she faced him, her back to Dakota. "Okay? It's not OK, Vetis. These… these _humans_ , are messing with me and my family."

"Adrienne, just be calm -"

"Shut up. Just shut up." She groaned, rubbing her head. It felt like someone had taken a jackhammer to it. "Is there anything else I should know."

Vetis hesitated before telling her, "The Winchesters spoke to Adam."

Adrienne's eyes snapped open. She stared at him without speaking. She'd rarely thought about Adam in the rush of everything that had happened. In the few times she'd thought about him, she'd figured he was safe at school, not in the same place where the people she loved had been brutally murdered by heavenly dicks. _What does he think he's doing?_ Aloud, she said, "Is he okay?"

"As far as we know, all he's done is talk with the Winchesters and the police."

"Oh great!" Adrienne said, flinging her hands to the air in irritation. "Now there are police! And here I thought this day couldn't possibly get any better!"

"Well of course there are police." Vetis said nonchalantly, resting in her throne with one leg hanging over the other. "What did you think would happen? Three people dead, another missing, and nobody notices?"

Adrienne glared at him with a clenched jaw. "Get out. Both of you, get out, and know that the next person who comes in here will have to be scraped off the ceiling!"

Vetis stares at her in shock, like he can't quite believe what he's hearing. He waits for a moment to see if she'll change her mind, take back her words maybe. But Adrienne stands firm and refuses to lose his gaze for even a second. Realizing he's not gonna win, he stood up, fingers still clenched so tightly around the armrest they were white. "Of course Adrienne. I would never dream of disobeying my queen." He has to keep himself from saying the words too harshly, though there's no denying the sarcasm. "Come with me," he says to Dakota, who's still standing behind Adrienne, seeming incredibly confused in one moment, and happy to finally have some direction the next. _Demons_ , Vetis thinks scathingly. Just like humans, they were all but incapable of independent thought. Lucifer would say that they are humans at their core. Vetis would not disagree.

Dakota hurries through the day, looking back once at Adrienne, who is stony faced and silent. Vetis does not look back.

* * *

Adrienne had forgotten what it was like to be so angry it felt like fire was filling her. As soon as the door is closed, she collapses to the floor, finally allowing a few acid-tears to scar her cheeks. She had always thought her tears were weird, too warm and always burning where they landed, but the grooves always healed and the doctor she had seen had been adamant that there was nothing wrong with her. She knew better now.

It feels like the necklace she's wearing is strangling her, so she rips it off and throws it, though the throw is pitifully weak and the necklace only lands a few feet away, landing in a pile of black pearls and red rubies. She didn't even like the necklace, really. She's never cared for pearls, and black ones were never black enough. She had only worn it because Vetis had given it to her, and it felt wrong to refuse it.

 _Vetis_. The thought of the fallen angel was enough to make her grind her teeth. As frustration and anger took control of her, she heard the sound of stone breaking, and looked up to see the crack in her throne. She sighed, running a hand over the jagged crack.

Adam was nothing like Vetis. They were polar opposites, even beyond their difference in species. Adam was soft where Vetis was harsh. And though Vetis treated many important things casually, it was a front to hide her fears and nerves, while Adam would never hide such things. Not from her. Hell, they even looked different. Adam was pale with dark hair, while Vetis had tanned skin, though not dark and never approaching the orange of fake tans. It was more of a muted gold. His hair was bleached blonde, and his eyes were as amber, though these were facets of his vessel rather than himself. In reality, his wings were colossal things composed of feathers ranging from scarlet to the bagged blood you see at hospitals, and his eyes had once glowed white as surely as her own, though time in Hell had made them red.

Adrienne wondered how Adam, who she had once declared 'the love of my life' (she cringed to think of it now) was faring. Had he cried, or had he been too stunned to even think? Had the police questioned him because they thought he had something to do with it? If he was in town, then he was missing his classes. Was he failing or had he managed to do his work away from school? If the angels found out about him, would they kill him?

The thought stopped me in my tracks. I couldn't let anything happen to him. He deserved better.

So it was a good thing Vetis had left, or else he would never have agreed with what she was about to do.

* * *

The town was exactly as she had left it. Warm from Spring, pink and white flowers dotting the trees, and just barely big enough to be considered suburban, with bland two story houses filled with plain decorations and dull people. Feels like home.

Adrienne almost felt guilty in the way she'd described the town. She had loved this place once, taking strength in the quiet, finding peace in allowing the sun to beam down on her in her pastel tank tops and shorts, so different from the ruby red floor length silk dress she wore now that moved with the wind, though no human could see it.

There were two places to stay in town. One was the Regency, a decades old motel that was owned by the family that had founded the town. The other was a pay-by-the-hour place that if he parents had ever asked, Adrienne would have denied knowing of its existence. Adam, she knew, would be at the former. She stopped in front of the entrance, wondering if this was a good idea. What would Adam think when he saw her, healthy and dressed like a queen, when he probably thought she was dead or kidnapped? She supposed she could change into something more casual if she had to, but she didn't want to waste time. Would he believe what she told him? He would have to after she showed him her powers. Would he be relieved that she was okay, or angry that she had not sought him out sooner? Relieved, she decided. He could not be anything else.

After several minutes of self debate, Adrienne prepared herself to enter the motel, but was stopped short by a feeling she had.

It was a tiny thing really, just a feeling encroaching on the edge of her consciousness, like a tiny bit of string pulling her somewhere. It soon grew, drawing her away from the motel and towards the southern edge of town. She couldn't stop. She didn't really want to. It was like she in a trance, blindly following the feeling, waiting to see where this feeling, this _spell_ , would lead her.

Soon, Adrienne stood in front of her door. The last time she was here, she had knocked, but no one had answered. The last time she was here, the world fell apart.

She didn't bother knocking now, only phasing through the door into the house. She walked through the entryway without preamble, headed straight for the living room, that for all rights should have been empty.

As soon as she stepped into the room, the flames were lit, rising in a circle around her, runes glowing silver against the white walls. Immediately, the trance broke, the rope cut. She swiveled on her feet, seeing three people. Two were men, both very tall and good-looking, both armed. The third was an angel in a man's body. Adrienne could see his black wings stretching across the room, could feel the power he radiated.

"Adrienne."

* * *

 _April 27th, 2011_

 _Sam and Dean debated for a while before deciding that they couldn't leave. Adrienne was too dangerous to just leave her alone. Instead, they headed back to her house, figuring it was the one place they knew she was familiar with. As soon as they were inside, they saw Castiel._

 _"What are you doing here? I told you to leave -"_

 _"Well Cas," Dean began, "You said it yourself: every time you tell us to do something, we do the exact opposite. I don't even know why you're surprised."_

 _"Because I thought you had common sense. Apparently I was wrong."_

 _"I could have told you that." Dean tried for a smile, quickly giving up in the face of the angel's glare. "Look, you said it yourself. Adrienne's dangerous. The sooner we take her out, the better."_

 _"No, the sooner I or another angel kills her, the better. If you attempt to fight her, she will destroy you."_

 _Dean shrugged. "How hard can it be? You said she was part angel, so all it should take is an angel blade, right?" Dean pulled said blade from his belt, twirling it once in his hand._

 _Castiel glared sternly at Dean. "It is not a matter of finding a weapon to kill her; it is getting close enough to do so without being blown up."_

 _"That's where the holy fire comes in," Dean said, gesturing to the oil forming a ring on the floor. "She stands in that, can't leave, then bam! Dead antichrist."_

 _"Dean, I cannot allow you to do this. It's too dangerous."_

 _"What are you gonna do, send us to Bobby's?"_

 _"Yes."_

 _Dean scoffed. "Fine, then I'm not gonna talk to you." Dean turned away and started sorting the materials he and Sam had brought over, including the holy oil and angel blades._

 _"Dean," Castiel said irritably, "stop being a child -"_

 _"Do you hear something Sam?"_

 _"Don't drag me into this," Sam said, backing farther away from them._

 _Castiel glowered at Sam before returning his gaze to Dean. "Dean, stop being obstinate."_

 _"Stop being patronizing and we'll talk," Dean countered, still examining a blade._

 _"Dean." Castiel grabbed his shoulder, forcing him to face the angel. "I don't want anything to happen to you." After a moment, he added, "Or Sam."_

 _"Well we're not gonna stop hunting her, so if you really don't want anything to happen to us, you should help."_

 _Castiel stared at him stonily. After a brief moment of silence, he relented. "The fire will only keep Adrienne from leaving; there are enochian spells that can be used to weaken her power. I can use them on the walls. I don't know how well they'll work though."_

 _Dean smiled, pleased to have his friend on his side, where he belonged. "Sounds great Cas. Say, do you got anything that will actually get her here?"_

* * *

Adrienne turned to face one of the men. This one had eyes like peridots and was barely taller than the angel's vessel, though still shorter than his brother. "Dean Winchester."

There was a spark of surprise in Dean's eyes, though he quickly hid it. He smiled, confidently, arrogantly. "Hi." He ran his eyes over her, sizing her up before resting on her face again. "So you're the devil's bastard, huh?"

Adrienne smirked. "And you're Alistair's bitch." She didn't bother spending anymore time focusing on him. Instead, she turned to his floppy-haired brother. "And the abomination." Sam's expression fell, though it was almost imperceptible. And if the comment felt bitter on Adrienne's tongue, then it had nothing to do with Kushiel. "I should thank you, both of you. Without you dumbasses kick starting the apocalypse, I wouldn't exist." She grinned evilly, before adding, "And then I would not have the pleasure of killing you."

Adrienne snapped her fingers, expecting the three of them to disintegrate, not wanting to dishonor her family's home with their blood. Her smirk faltered when she realized nothing had happened. She snapped again. Nothing. Her expression fell completely as she realized she was trapped and defenseless. A nervous sweat broke out on her brow, aided by the fire.

Dean, realizing her distress, regained his earlier confidence, saying, "Well I don't know if you've noticed, but you're not exactly going anywhere. Cas," he said, referencing the angel. _Castiel_ , she knew from Vetis. "Kill her."

Adrienne faced the angel at the same moment he threw the blade. Panicked, she raised her hand.

The blade stopped in midair. Adrienne held it for a moment, but let it fall to the ground when she began to feel tired. _Okay_ , she thought, _Just offense-less. Not defenseless_. She smiled cheerfully at the angel, tauntingly asking him, "What's wrong angel? Can't get up your mojo? Don't worry, I hear it happens to one out of five angelic beings."

Castiel's face hardened. "The spells I put up work continually; they shall drain your power until you're weak enough for us to kill you."

Adrienne shrugged. "Okay. Maybe that's what'll happen. Or maybe the hundreds of demons that follow me will find us, break the warding, and kill you." The men shifted uncomfortably, exchanging worried looks with each other. Adrienne smirked and sat down, crossing her legs and ignoring the sick feeling in her stomach. "Guess we'll just wait and see what happens first."


	9. Part One — Chapter Nine

Part One: Dark One

Chapter Nine: "Where does it hurt?" "Everywhere."

* * *

A/N: Buckle in kiddies. This is where shit gets dark. Seriously graphic violence in the following chapter. You've been warned.

* * *

 _I don't remember_  
 _when my screams_  
 _turned into silence._

 _I don't remember_  
 _why my vision_  
 _had gone black._

 _I don't remember_  
 _where I dangled_  
 _off that edge._

 _All I remember is that I let go._

* * *

 _April 27th, 2011_

Sam threw an angel blade at Adrienne. She stopped it, sending it skittering on the wood floors.

"Try again," Adrienne said, managing to sound supremely bored while surrounded by holy fire.

Sam ignored her, returning to the book he was reading. Adrienne thought it might be a journal; it was stuffed with pictures and filled with messy writing.

Adrienne sighed when Sam ignored her. She'd been here for over an hour now, and was finding her limited company to be extraordinarily dull. She glanced at Sam, who was doing a superb job at ignoring her so far. His brother and the angel were guarding the back and front doors, leaving the moose to attempt to kill her every ten minutes. And though she refused to say it, it was getting harder and harder to stop the blades. Worse still, the feeling in her stomach had grown so that it was encompassing her entire body, leaving every inch of her sore and aching as her head pounded and sweat accumulated on her skin. She would _kill_ for some demon blood right now.

In an attempt to distract herself from the pain, she spoke to Sam again. "Do you know what I don't get?"

Sam ignored her.

Adrienne continued speaking. "I don't understand why you and Dean are against me."

Now Sam responded, looking at her as though to sarcastically ask 'Really?'.

"It's true," Adrienne insisted, "It's easy to tell why your angel buddy doesn't like me; I'm a threat to him and the other heavenly dicks. Plus, I killed his brother. That's gotta sting, even if the guy _was_ scum. But you," she looked at Sam like he was a puzzle she couldn't figure out, "you're human. You've lost friends and family, some of them _because_ of angels, and now you're on their side?" She shrugged, leaning back a bit, "Just doesn't make sense to me."

"Yeah? And whose side should we be on? Yours?" Sam had put the journal down and was paying attention to her now, though his voice kept a bit of its sting.

Adrienne shrugged. "I don't see why not."

Sam scoffed. "Really? How about the fact that you're a killer and a monster?"

"Well yeah, but I've only killed criminals. People who posed a threat to others; it's no different than what you and your brother do really." Adrienne's expression was calm, her eyes clear while a tiny smile crinkled her eyes and turned up the corners of her lips.

Sam rolled his eyes and returned to the journal.

Adrienne refused to be discouraged. If everything Vetis had said about them was true, and she had no reason to doubt him, the Winchesters could be powerful allies. "As for being a monster … am I really? What makes me one? Is it because I'm half-angel, or because I'm Lucifer's daughter? I have no more control over those things than you do the demon blood in you." Sam stared at her, the journal falling from his loose grip. He paid it no attention, focusing entirely on Adrienne, who continued talking. "Am I more of a monster than some self-righteous pigeons who kill three people, including a _child_ , and for what? Because they were here and I wasn't? Because they were my family? Because they loved me? Kept me safe? Hell, I didn't even know what I was until that happened. I might have lived a peaceful, human life if the angels hadn't killed my family. But they took that from me. They took _everything_ from me." Adrienne's face had grown harsh as she thought about the angels, having locked those memories away as well as she could for as long as she could.

Sam flushed, doubt eating away at him. What happened to Adrienne had been horrible, but... "That was just a few angels. They didn't represent the whole."

Adrienne chuckled darkly, groaning at a new wave of pain. "Then why is your little winged friend so eager to kill me? I've only killed one angel, and it had no problem killing my family."

Sam stayed silent for a few seconds, before saying, "Maybe it's because you want to start the apocalypse."

Adrienne couldn't help it; she let out a sharp laugh, which soon turned to a harsh cough. Sam stared at her, wondering if he should get Cas, but Adrienne kept talking. "That's rich coming from the same guy who actually started the apocalypse." Her expression softened at Sam's pained face. "I'm sorry. I'm sure that's not something you like to think about. My point is that I don't want to raise Lucifer anymore than you want to shoot up a diner. I could, but it's not gonna happen. Remember, I'm part human. I love this planet, these people. I don't want them to be in pain. If anything, I want to protect them."

Sam admitted to himself that he was beginning to feel a bit sympathetic to her, but that was no reason to trust someone who had already admitted to being a killer. "So what? You think Dean and I are just gonna jump on the _SS Antichrist_?"

"No," she admitted, "but it would be nice for you to not actively oppose me. I'll even let you, your brother, _and_ your angel go free of harm if you let me leave now." Sam scoffed, but she could tell her words were starting to affect him. He was hooked; she just needed to reel him in. "Sam, on my family's graves, I swear that I will not hurt any humans, or any angels that didn't participate in my family's murders or tries to harm me or my followers.' Her voice was starting to get so quiet Sam could hardly hear her, and her eyes were barely open. "I'm not… the villain…" Adrienne fell over, her eyes rolling back in her head as her body began to shake.

"Adrienne?" Sam moved to the edges of the holy fire, careful not to get too close. He could only see the whites of the girl's eyes; her body shook as though she were having a seizure. "Cas! Cas, get in here!"

The angel appeared next to Sam, immediately seeing Adrienne. "What happened?" He asked, leaning down to better see Adrienne.

"I don't know," Sam told him, "One minute she was fine, and the next…" He didn't say anything, instead gesturing to Adrienne to make his point.

Dean entered the room, abandoning the back door after making sure the sigils and demon traps were all intact. "What the hell's going on?"

Castiel searched Adrienne's body, soon finding the cause. "Demon blood."

Sam frowned, looking from Castiel back to Adrienne. "What? Why did she have demon blood in her?"

"Most likely she used it to make herself more powerful when she was still used to being human. It appears she never stopped."

Dean stooped beside his angel. "So she's detoxing?" He asked, staring at her. Cas nodded. Sam winced in sympathy, remembering the times when he'd been forcibly detoxed after becoming addicted to demon blood.

Dean, however, was uncaring as to the nephilim's pain; he simply asked Cas, "Can we gank her now?"

Castiel took the angel blade that Sam had tried to kill Adrienne with earlier, throwing it through the flames. It bounced off an invisible wall, leaving the end flattened. "No. Adrienne's angelic instincts have taken over her board. She's effectively put up a very powerful shield around herself."

Dean rolled his eyes. "Great, so now she's gonna be harder to kill. Awesome."

Castiel gazed at his niece, telling Dean, "Power like this takes a lot of energy. She can't keep it up for long, especially while going through withdrawal. Soon, we will be able to kill her."

Dean hummed in satisfaction, but Sam wasn't so sure this was the right thing to do anymore. Looking at the poor girl, writhing on the floor, he couldn't say for sure that killing her was the best choice. He decided to talk about it to his brother once Cas had left. Until then, he would maintain watch over Adrienne. But he wasn't sure if he could.

* * *

Sam was gone. When had he left? Adrienne didn't know.

Adrienne's arms and legs were bound by strong rope that chafed at her skin. Each length of rope led to a white pillar, spreading her body out like a star.

Everything hurt. Every never was on fire, every cell was dying. Her blood boiled and her eyes likely would have fallen out by now if she were lying face down.

"Adrienne."

Adrienne slowly turned to face the small voice. Zac stood inches apart from her head, wearing his favorite Spongebob t shirt and a worn pair of jeans. His eyes were there, a brilliant hazel that she wanted to stare at forever.

"Zac?" Adrienne's voice was low, barely above a whisper. She wasn't sure how she even managed to speak as her throat felt like it was about to explode. It didn't matter. Zac was there, and he was alive and healthy.

But something was wrong. Zac's face was cold, expressionless. He was unfeeling as he stared at his sister's strung out body, dressed only in blood and smoke. "Why'd you do it?"

Adrienne's face contorted into one of confusion. "What? What did I do?"

Zac remained staring at her. "Why did you kill us Adrienne?"

Adrienne couldn't speak. Her words caught in her throat as acid-tears spilled down her eyes. "I… I didn't…"

"Don't lie, Adrienne." This voice was new, though just as familiar as her brother's. It came from her mother, who was to her side.

"You shouldn't lie to your family, Adrienne." This one was her father, on her other side. "Oh, but we're not your family, are we?"

"We never have been," Mari remarked. "Didn't stop them, did it?"

Zac shook his head. "They still came for us. They still killed us." Zac leaned his head to one side, movements jagged, like an insect's. "Why'd you let them kill us Adrienne?"

"I didn't know…"

Josef scoffed. "Didn't know." He stomped on Adrienne's wrist, crushing the bone. Adrienne screamed in pain, but was helpless against him. "Didn't know what Adrienne? Didn't know you were a monster? Didn't know that we would die because of you?" He ground his foot on her wrist, pulverizing the bone.

"Please… stop…"

"Why should we stop Adrienne?" Mari asked, mimicking her husband's movements, aiming for her daughter's shoulder. "The angels didn't stop. Not until our eyes were already burnt out of our skulls."

Adrienne forced herself not to scream, biting down on her lip until it bled. "I'm sorry."

"Oh, you're sorry," Zac mocked, kneeling now, grabbing her head and forcing her to look at him. "I'm sorry, sister. Sorry that I'm dead but a monster like you is still alive."

"I'm not a monster…" Adrienne's voice trailed off, though she kept repeating it in her head, like a mantra.

 _I'm not a monster, I'm not a monster, I'm not a monster, I'm not a monster, I'M NOT A MONSTER_

"Yes you are," Zac stated simply, like it was a fact. "You always have been. You never even tried to stop being one." Zac leaned over Adrienne's neck, biting into it until it severed the flesh, pulling a chunk of her neck out. He swallowed while his sister screamed. Blood spilled over her neck and shoulder, coating her jaw and chest.

Mari and Josef finished where they'd been, soon crushing her ribs and sternum. Adrienne could not breathe; logically, she knew that she did not need to, but she still would have given anything to be rid of this utterly human feeling of suffocation.

Zac stared at her softly, blood covering his mouth, cheeks, and chin, soon spilling onto his shirt. His expression reminded her of the philosophy professors from school. "But maybe you should keep being a monster. 'Cuz if you're not a monster, then you aren't anything. Because it's all that you are. Without that, you would just be a soulless husk, not even worthy of being called an animal. You'd be nothing."

 _I'm not soulless… Vetis told me I have a soul… Where is he? I miss him._

Adrienne tried to call for the fallen angel, but could not speak.

"Then again," Zac continued, far too eloquent for such a little boy, "Maybe you already are."

* * *

Vetis sat in his parlor, trying not to smite the sniveling demons that had come to speak with Adrienne, but now had to deal with him instead. This was especially difficult as he had a hard time just looking at their broken forms; they were pathetic really, creatures with no place in this world except as servants and cannon fodder. Even their creator was disgusted by them; when Lucifer returned, he would rid the universe of their filth as soon as humanity was finished off.

It was that thought that gave Vetis the patience necessary to pay attention to the demons. There was a group of four demons, a human with his hands and feet bound by rope on the floor in front of him, a gag preventing him from being too loud. The boy was crying pitifully; Vetis was tempted to kill him now just to make him stop. The boy was Asian and probably around Adrienne's (physical) age. He was dressed in a blue shirt that was completely buttoned and khakis. His clothes were dirty, no doubt because of the demons who had captured him.

Vetis looked to the demon, James, who had brought him the boy. Vetis waited for an explanation. When none was given, he grew more irritated. "Well?" He snapped at the demon. "Who is this?"

James cleared his throat, nerves clear on his face. "His name is Kevin, sir. Kevin Tran."

Vetis smiled, delight replacing any irritation he had. He looked at Kevin, using his power to force the boy to meet his gaze. "You're a prophet," Vetis said, beaming cheerfully. He tilted his head to one side curiously before asking, "Have you seen anything?"

Slowly, Kevin nodded. Vetis's smile widened, and he stood, quickly kneeling so that he was face to face with the boy. It was good that the house was so thoroughly warded; no angels would be coming to the prophet's rescue.

Vetis grabbed the boy's head, fingers clenching the flesh as Kevin attempted to cry out. Vetis ignored him, forcing the vision from Kevin's mind, quickly experiencing it for himself.

Kevin had become a prophet after Chuck Shurley's death weeks ago. He knew about the apocalypse, about Adrienne, and everything that Vetis had done to get them here. But so far he had only had one vision of the future.

 _Adrienne stood in a black ceremonial gown with bare feet and no jewelry. There were over three dozen bodies laid out in a wide circle around her. Vetis just outside the circle, along with several living demons, looking smug and proud as he listened to the Enochian on her tongue. There were glyphs drawn in blood on each of her arms, spread out as though to allow someone to view them more clearly. As Adrienne spoke, her eyes and the glyphs began to glow white. Blood spilled from every little sigil, spreading out in harsh lines to each of the bodies that surrounded them._

 _But something was wrong. The blood never stopped, even as Adrienne's voice faltered and she grew dizzy, eyes forced to remain open even as she fell to the ground, skin tight and dry around her bones, no sound coming from her as the cage opened and light filled the night sky._

Vetis gasped in a breath he did not need as he came back to himself, hands falling from Kevin's head. He stared at the body, imagined killing him. But it did not matter. Killing Kevin would not change the future; Adrienne _had_ to open the cage, Lucifer _had_ to come back.

But as he remembered the image of Adrienne's lifeless body, all he could think was, _This can not happen_.

The door burst open, revealing a frantic Dakota. "Get out!" She barked at the demons. "Get out or Adrienne will have all of you executed!"

The demons quickly left the room. Vetis came back to himself enough to have Kevin sent with them, leaving only Dakota and himself. He decided to put what he'd just seen out of his mind; it did not matter right now. He would think about it later, when his mind was clearer.

Vetis scowled at Dakota, annoyed that he could not kill her as that would be depriving Adrienne of her favourite. "You have no right -"

"Adrienne's gone."

Vetis stared at her in shock. "What?"

"She's gone! I went to check on her and take her some demon blood, because she get's really bad headaches if she doesn't get enough, and she wasn't there!"

Vetis felt himself begin to panic, imagining all the awful things that could have happened to Adrienne. "Well don't just stand there!" He shouted at Dakota, jumping to his feet. "Find her! I want the entire building and every town and city in this state searched now!"

"What if we don't find her?"

Vetis was finding it very hard not to kill Dakota. " _Then look somewhere else_!"

The demon nodded, quickly leaving. Vetis growled, trying to force himself to calm down. He stood still and imagined Adrienne. Her eyes, smile, her power…

He would find her. And then he would destroy anything and any _one_ that tried to hurt her.

* * *

Zac. Josef. Mari. The human prisoners. The demon traitors. Kushiel. Their eyes were wide open, staring down at her accusingly. All of them hung suspended from the ceiling, secured by inky black tendrils around their necks, wrists, and ankles. Adrienne did not know what they were. She did not want to.

Adrienne was in a sort of coffin. It was so small that she barely fit inside, and made of clear glass, allowing her to see through the sides, though there was not much to look at. Only more bodies, these ones faceless. They floated in their own blood, which was only just shallow enough that it did not spill into the open coffin.

Adrienne tried to sit up, but could not breach the invisible barrier over her. She squirmed until she could get her hands to the top, pushing against the shield. Soon she was not able to do even this as whenever she moved, the coffin grew smaller until she was held completely motionless. A drop of blood fell onto Adrienne's forehead. Above her, gashes opened across Zac's torso, then his arms and legs, and finally his face. His body ripped itself apart, spilling his blood until there was nothing but his skin left hanging from the ceiling. There were no organs, or brains, or meat, or anything you might expect to find in a body. Just blood.

Soon, the other bodies followed suit, until Adrienne could not see anything past the red that rained into her eyes. Blood soon filled the coffin completely, spilling past her lips and nose, filling her lungs, drowning her in all the people she'd killed.

* * *

Sam stood guard over Adrienne, unable to look away from the tears that slid past her glassy eyes. She was trembling softly, just enough to be noticeable. Occasionally she would start shaking for minutes at a time, goosebumps erupting over her skin, only to be half-drowned in sweat a moment later, as though her body couldn't decide what it wanted to do. Blood trickled from her eyes, barely an ounce altogether, but there none the less. He wondered if he'd been like that when Dean and Bobby had locked him in the panic room. He knows that though Dean and Bobby had been there, he had never realized they were, too caught up in the hallucinations.

Finally, Sam left, going to talk to Dean instead. He felt guilty about leaving Adrienne alone, but there was nothing he could do to help her, and he doubted she would find him comforting even if she knew he was there.

Dean stood next to the back door, looking out on the backyard where only weeks ago Mari and Josef Morgenstern died. A sick feeling twisted in Sam's stomach as he looked outside.

Dean, of course, immediately noticed Sam, turning to look at him when he came to stand next to Dean. "What are you doing in here? Thought you were supposed to be babysitting Lucy-junior."

"I was, but it was kind of hard to watch. Kind of brought back some bad memories, you know?"

Dean winced, quickly covering it with a nod. Neither of them said anything, but Dean soon realized that something was going on with his brother. It could just be from the demon blood, but it seemed… deeper, somehow. "What's eating you?"

"Nothing. I'm fine."

Dean rolled his eyes. "C'mon Sam. I know you. You're upset about something. Is it the demon blood? Cause I can watch Adrienne if you want."

"It's not that. Well, not entirely." Sam would be lying if he said that the sight of Adrienne, unable to control her body or mind and without friends or allies, was not making him of his own experiences with demon blood.

"Then what is it?"

Sam stood silently, staring out the window. Just as Dean began to give up hope for an answer, Sam said, "Are you sure we're doing the right thing?"

Dean frowned at his brother, eyebrows furrowing as he lips pursed. "What do you mean?"

Sam sighed, looking for the words to explain what Adrienne had said to his brother, who tended to have a bit of a 'shoot first, ask questions never' policy. "I don't know if killing Adrienne is the right thing to do."

Dean made an irritated noise, but Sam hurried to explain. "I'm serious. Adrienne hasn't hurt any innocent people. Even Cas said that the only humans she had killed were murderers and rapists. Not exactly model citizens. And the only angel she's killed at all helped _murder her family_."

"She's dangerous, and she could start the apocalypse over again."

"Dean, _we're the ones who started it in the first place_. Why should we get forgiveness, but not someone who hasn't actually done anything yet?"

"Sam, that girl is powerful and angry and will do anything it takes to get revenge -"

"Oh yeah, 'cuz that's something you know nothing about, right? You didn't dedicate most of your life to hunting down a demon for revenge? No, you would never do that."

Dean flushed, visibly reigning in his anger. After a moment, he seemed to have calmed down. He let out a breath and said, "Maybe you're right. I'll talk to Cas, but until I do, stay away from Adrienne. She's not our friend, and we don't even know what the hell she wants."

"She wants revenge, like you said."

"Yeah, but against who? Just the angels who killed her family, or all of them? Hell, she actually _threatened to kill us earlier_. We have to be careful."

Sam sighed, but had to admit that his brother was right. "Okay, you have a point."

"I know that."

Sam scoffed and pushed his brother's shoulder. "Jerk."

"Bitch." The brothers smiled, tension dissipating before Dean said, "Stay here. I'll watch Adrienne, you keep an eye out for any demons."

"Sounds good."

Dean started to leave the kitchen, stopping in the kitchen doorway. "Sam?"

"Yeah?"

Dean looked back at his brother, careful not to show too much emotion. "Don't think you can trust Adrienne because she's like you. She's not."

Sam stared in stunned silence as his brother left, leaving Sam alone to guard the place where Adrienne's parents had lost their lives.

* * *

Adrienne did not know where she was. She was not at home, nor was any of the rooms she had seen in the building Vetis had kept her in. There was a king sized bed with silk white sheets, and the walls had a black base with lacy golden designs. Paintings hung on the walls, showing scenes from Hell, Heaven, and even Purgatory, but none of Earth. On either side of the bed was a black Grecian pillar with gold statues of angels and demons sitting on them. The ceiling had stars painted on it. Adrienne swore she could make out some of the constellations.

But she still did not know where she was. Perhaps Vetis had found her and brought her here? But the how were the hallucinations gone?

"They're not gone."

Adrienne turned around to see who had spoken. It was a man, with blond hair and blue eyes. He wore an olive green t shirt with a slightly darker, unbuttoned shirt over eat, and blue jeans. Though he wasn't particularly handsome, he had a pleasant smile and calming presence.

"You're still hallucinating. This one is just a bit more real than the others." A small smile rested on the man's face, but Adrienne remained tense, ready to fight if necessary, but not sure she could win.

"Who are you?"

The man tilted his head slightly to the side. "I think you already know."

Funny thing was, she did. She just hadn't been sure; Adrienne had only ever heard about him from Vetis and a few demons, but they had never said what he looked like. At least, not physically. And trapped within her own mind, she could not see his true form as she had been able to with Vetis and Kushiel. But she knew him.

"Lucifer." She was quiet when saying the name, barely able to hear herself. But he heard.

"Is that really how you should speak to your father?"

Adrienne recognized what he was doing. He seemed nice so far, but she had no doubt he could turn on a dime. Father or not, he was still an angel. "What do you want?"

"Only to help you." Before Adrienne could ask what he meant, he was already speaking. "I was in the cage, having a nice day in Hell, when I sensed this horrible pain coming from you."

"How did you -"

"We're connected Adrienne. And as God feels the suffering of each of his children, so I know when you are in pain, in such a way that no human parent ever could."

Adrienne did not have anything to say to that. Instead, she asked him, "How are you here? Aren't you supposed to be in the cage?"

Lucifer let out an annoyed sound, more at the mention of the cage than at her. "I am. But ever since I got out the first time, the locks on the cage has been just a little bit weaker. I can't get out completely, but sometimes I can visit people in their dreams or send them messages. That's how I showed you the protection sigils when you were on the run. It is, after all, every parent's duty to protect their children."

Adrienne didn't know what to say. Everything she could think of in response to that would either sound stupid or bitchy, so instead she looked at the room again and asked, "Where are we?"

Lucifer looked at one of the paintings - this one of angels fighting each other - and said, "This is where you were born." He walked towards the bed, looking down at the pure white sheets. "Your mother, Lorelei, died almost immediately after."

Adrienne stared at him with wide eyes. "Because of me?"

Lucifer shook his head. "No. Not really. She died because Vetis killed her."

"What? Why would he -"

"Because she tried to kill you."

Adrienne felt her expression twist into one of confusion and horror. Lucifer gave her a sympathetic look before continuing. "I know, it's awful. She thought that you would plunge the world into darkness." He smiled warmly, looking at her in a way that reminded her of Josef. "Little did she know that you were always meant to bring light."

Adrienne tried not to break. To know that her mother, even if she had never met the woman, was dead was already hard enough. To know that it was because even she thought her daughter was an abomination made her feel like she was drowning again.

But she did not let herself fall apart. Not this time. She was stronger now then she was before, and refused to appear weak in front of Lucifer. "And how am I supposed to do that?"

Lucifer's gaze was unwavering, eyes alight with power as he said, "Free me. Start the apocalypse."

Adrienne's heart pounded against her ribs as her skin felt frozen. "No."

"Adrienne, -"

"No! I know you don't get it because you're an angel, but everyone on Earth - literally billions of innocent people - would die."

"It would be a mercy kill. These people are weak and in pain. You can help them -"

"Stop. Just stop. I'm not going to kill everyone on the goddamn planet just so -"

Lucifer had tired of her rebellion and pressed his hand to her hand.

At first, Adrienne was just confused. Then the pain overcame her, crushing down like a tsunami. Every nerve was on fire, there was not a single cell that was not in so much agony as not to commit suicide if it could. Her heart pounded as her lungs forced themselves to contract, more out of instinct then an actual want to live. Adrienne fell to the ground, like a marionette doll with its strings cut, as vomit mixed with blood forced its way up her throat.

And God, _her head_. She felt like it would explode at any moment, and if her eyes weren't in so much pain, she would use them to search for something to kill herself with.

After several horrific seconds that felt like years, it stopped. Slowly, she opened her eyes to see Lucifer crouched over her, sympathy in his expression if not his eyes. She flinched when he reached for her, but he only rested his hand on her hair comfortingly.

"What was that?" Adrienne bit out, curling into a ball.

"That was pain. The pain of every single living person on the planet. If you were human, it would have killed you before you even registered it."

Adrienne did not say anything. Not even when Lucifer pulled her closer to him, wrapping his arms around her. After a hesitant moment, she grabbed his hand.

* * *

The poem at the beginning was written by dvoyd on tumblr.

Damn, that was a long chapter. I was not expecting it to be this long. I liked it though.

The next chapter is the last one in Part One, which means next we'll be reading Part Seven! (I'm kidding, it's Part Two next.)


	10. Part One — Chapter Ten

Part One: Dark One

Chapter Ten: Savior

* * *

 _Have you ever asked yourself, do monsters make war, or does war make monsters?_

 _— Laini Taylor, Daughter of Smoke & Bone_

* * *

 _April 27th, 2011_

Vetis tapped his fingers on his table, eye twitching. It was an annoyingly human habit he had picked up since retrieving Adrienne. He fought to control it, jaw clenching as he attempted to control his breathing - another human habit. He wondered if it was possible to spend too much time with Adrienne.

Demons, he decided, were worthless. He'd already thought they were the disgusting remains of humanity's worst, but he figured they could at least be half-decent servants. No. None of them had any idea where Adrienne was, despite being supernatural beings with the ability to teleport and possess people. A few of them stood in front of him, as small and filthy as the rest. These particular demons were each the leader of a separate team sent to search for Adrienne. They were supposedly the best, which was a really depressing thought, as they were completely incompetent and all but trembling under his gaze. Not that he didn't understand. He was _very_ close to killing them.

"Leave," he snapped, unable to stand their presence for another moment. "Ask Dakota where you should go. Report back if you find her, and ONLY if you find her."

The demons scurried out of the room, like rats fleeing a sinking ship, relief apparent on their faces. Vetis considered having another glass of whiskey, but that would make four bottles and he didn't want his mind impaired while he searched for Adrienne.

He hated this, felt useless sitting there while Adrienne was lost to him. He imagined it was what Adrienne had been feeling when she couldn't leave to fight the angels herself, forced instead to delegate to the demons, except without the vague sense of terror. The irony was not lost on him.

As he sat in silence, Vetis gradually became more aware of a familiar searching sensation in the back of his mind. He examined it closely, allowing it to encompass his mind once he realized what it was.

 _Brother_. Since the apocalypse, Lucifer's cage was weaker than it had been before, and he was occasionally able to send people messages, usually in the form of brief visions or dreams, but he always spoke to his brother. It usually gave Vetis a rush of pride, but he was too upset to care right now.

Lucifer did not respond to the greeting. Instead, he told Vetis, _Adrienne is at 413 Birchtree Rd._

Vetis knew that house; it was where Adrienne had lived with the Morgensterns. He had thought Dakota would have had someone sent there, but he supposed he should not be surprised that she was as stupid as the rest. _What is she doing there?_

 _She is being held captive by Sam and Dean Winchester._

A wave of anger flowed through Vetis, but he knew he could not allow himself to act on it. Adrienne needed him to be calm. If he went in guns blazing, he would do more harm than good.

 _I will retrieve her_. This he had to do for himself as much as Lucifer. The mere thought of anything happening to Adrienne was painful; he wanted her to be here at his side.

Lucifer did not respond. Vetis wasn't sure why he thought he would. He felt a brief flash of anger at his brother's disconcern, but shook it off. Lucifer had no reason to feel anything at all towards Adrienne; she was simply a weapon needed to ensure his success.

For some reason, that didn't sit well with him like it used to.

* * *

Dean did not know what to think.

On one hand, Adrienne was definitely dangerous. That was obvious from the moment Cas said they were not to go near her, and had been hammered home by how she was still powerful enough to defend herself from them even after Cas worked his magic.

But, in a way, Dean felt like he understood her. The girl had lost everything in a single day. Her family, her home, her entire worldview. Dean knew what that was like; the same thing had happened to him when he was four. Although he guessed he had it easier than her since he had his dad and Sammy, and it had been years before he had to deal with angels. This poor girl had that all thrown at her at the same time she lost everything else.

He was glad Cas wasn't in the room. He would immediately know what Dean was thinking, and he would be upset that neither Dean nor Sam had attempted to kill her since she had started detoxing.

Dean thought she looked better now. She wasn't shaking anymore and her eyes were closed. She looked more like she was asleep than anything else. Hell, maybe she was. Maybe the hallucinations and detox were over, and she could finally just get some rest.

 _Okay_ , Dean thought to himself, _say that Adrienne is an alright person and we don't have to do anything to her. How do I explain that to Cas?_ That was the real problem as far as he was concerned. As much as he lo... _cared about_ Cas, Dean knew that he could be ruthless if he thought it was necessary (the words "I can throw you back in", came to mind, along with a slight shiver (because he was scared (yeah, okay))). And Adrienne was definitely a special case. He might not be able to stop Cas if he set his mind on it. As scary as that was, it was nothing compared to the idea that Adrienne might kill Cas (which would be even worse if it were in self-defense, as he wouldn't even be able to kill Adrienne to avenge his friend's death).

Dean felt the beginnings of a headache as he considered the possibilities. He glared at Adrienne, thinking this would be a lot simpler if she were just plain evil.

Castiel appeared next to him. He barely even noticed it anymore, simply asking him, "What's up Cas?"

"Demons."

…"I'm pretty sure that's not the direction demons go."

Castiel rolled his eyes and grabbed Dean's arm, pulling him up from the floor and towards the entranceway at the front of the house. It was dark outside now, the only light coming from a sliver of the moon and a few orange streetlamps. Dean looked out the window in the door ( _Why the hell do people have these? There is no way that's safe_ ), but saw nothing. After staring for several seconds, he told Cas, "I don't see anything."

Castiel leaned in and saw a dozen demons scattered around the house, looking tense as their black and red eyes looked over the property. He had no doubt they saw him to, but none of them changed stance. "No. They've shielded themselves from humans."

"How many are there?" Dean asked, scanning the area but coming up empty.

"Twelve. Possibly more waiting as backup or behind the house."

"Think they're here for Adrienne?"

Cas glared at him. "No, I think they're here for Christmas."

Dean rolled his eyes, regretting teaching his angel sarcasm. "Fair enough. What are they doing?"

Castiel peered at them for several seconds before giving up and sighing. "Nothing. They're just standing there."

"Waiting for orders?"

Cas nodded. "Assumingly."

"Okay. Well if they're waiting, then the big bad's probably gonna show any minute now. Do we know who it is?"

As Dean spoke, a man appeared in front of the house across the street, wearing a black wool with a stiff collar and a row of smooth black buttons down the middle and silver embroidery forming angelic sigils and runes. His paints were much the same, but without the embroidery. His boots were made of smooth leather and covered his calves, with gloves made of a similar material. His hair was bleached blonde and his skin was almost sickly pale. "Who's that guy?"

Castiel didn't register the man's human presence. What he saw was three pairs of red wings and wounded grace. Castiel had thought that after thousands of years in hell, the wings would be all but completely destroyed. Adrienne's work, most likely. Although apparently she could do nothing about his grace. "Vetis."

Dean waited a beat before asking him to elaborate.

"Vetis was - _is_ \- a fallen angel. He's thought to be one of Lucifer's most trusted and was amongst the first to fall with him. I fought him once, but he escaped me." Vetis stared at the door, soon catching Castiel's gaze. His eyes flashed red. He turned around and walked over to a demon with black hair and green eyes. They spoke for a less than a minute before Vetis walked over to an oak tree. He dragged his fingers over the rough bark, the wood glowing white where he touched it. _Truce_. "He wants to talk to me."

Castiel was gone before Dean could say anything. A moment later, Vetis finished drawing another sigil under the first one, and Dean could no longer see him.

Cautiously, he walked towards his fallen brother, looking at the sigil. The truce sigil was one of the oldest and most powerful that they had at their disposal. On the left side of it was Vetis's personal sigil, and on the right Castiel's. If either of them tried to harm the other while within 100 feet of it, they would die. Above and below the truce sigil was one to keep demons from hearing them, and another to hide them completely from humans.

The demons closed in on them, surrounding the angels in a glared at Castiel silently, but Vetis waved them off. "Don't worry," he said with fake assurance, "They won't touch you. At least, not yet."

"I suppose I'll have to take your word for it."

Vetis smiled at him, head tilted slightly to the side as his red eyes shone. "It's good to see you again brother."

Castiel returned his smile with a disgusted look. "Spare me your stupidity and tell me what you want."

Vetis elegantly lifted an eyebrow. "I'll be brief." He walked as he spoke, circling Castiel, like a predator trying to decide where best to strike. "You have Adrienne. I want Adrienne. I'm sure you know where I'm going with this."

"You cannot have Adrienne."

Vetis rolled his eyes. "Oh come on. You don't need her. She's useless to you and your pets."

Castiel was confused for a moment before he realized that by 'pets', Vetis meant the Winchesters. "You are not endearing me to your case by acting no better than the humans you claim to hate."

That shut him up… for two seconds. " _Look_ ," he screwed his eyes shut for a moment, taking in deep breaths, "Either you return Adrienne to me now, or I will rip your wings off before killing you and dragging the apes back to hell where they belong."

"For some reason," Castiel began, "I don't trust you."

"You don't have to trust me, brother. You just have to decide whether or not it's worth it to see your charge splattered against the wall." Vetis slashed the privacy sigils with an angel blade and leaned back on his heels to smirk at Castiel. "I await your decision."

* * *

Dean watched as Castiel glared at his brother before walking away. At first, the demons stood in his way, more now than before, but Vetis waved them off, allowing him to pass.

Dean was relieved that the angel was okay, having not been able to see him earlier. He was _not_ relieved to see that the demons and Vetis were all still alive, and none even tried to hide. One moment, Castiel was standing amongst the demons, and the next he was besides Dean again.

"Cas!" Dean quickly hugged his friend. Castiel stood stiffly for a few moments, before returning the gesture. A warm feeling grew in the pit of Dean's stomach, and he quickly pulled away. They stared at each other, neither quite sure what they should do. Dean quickly asked, "What did he want?"

Castiel blinked, turning his head away from Dean, unsure of what he was feeling, and decided to focus instead on Dean's question. "He said he wanted Adrienne, and that if we did not hand her over to him, he would 'rip my wings off before killing me and dragging you and Sam back to hell where you belong'."

"Have I ever told you how much I love your family?" A beat passed before Dean said, "Hey, do you really have wings?" He'd seen the shadows of course, but he didn't know if there was anything more to them.

"Dean, now is not the time for this." He sighed as Dean pouted, and quietly said, "Yes, I do have wings, but now is not the time to talk about that."

Dean pouted, but shrugged off his disappointment, figuring he could ask about the wings again later. "Okay, fine. What do you want to do about the demons on the porch?"

Before Cas could respond, the floor started to shake. The floorboards broke apart, ruining the devil's traps and angel warding.

"I'm beginning to think Vetis lied."

* * *

Vetis watched his brother leave as Dakota came to stand by him. "Why did you want to talk to him?"

Vetis stood silent for a few short seconds before saying, "Adrienne is a good person. She has done things that are less than virtuous, but she is still good. She will be glad to know that we attempted to negotiate."

Dakota frowned, drawing her eyes away from the house to look at him. "Attempted?"

Vetis smiled, his voice a low drawl. "Well, we can't work with the Winchesters can we? What would people say?" He walked until he stood only a few feet from the front of the house, eyes flashing a marbled red. He could feel the the house tearing itself apart. Soon, he could no longer sense the warding that the Winchesters and his brother had so meticulously put up.

Vetis turned to the demons, wings high above him. "Inside this house is our Savior, captured by the people who took away our paradise. I will take the angel. The rest of you…" He looked at them, wide-eyed and thirsty for blood. "Destroy the Winchesters."

* * *

The demons stormed the house, tearing down the doors and breaking the windows. Dean wondered why no one did anything. It wasn't that late; someone should have noticed. He supposed it didn't matter, what with over twenty demons clawing at him and Cas, who was smiting left and right but still not enough.

Vetis and Dakota walked right past them into the living room where Adrienne was. She was sleeping in the middle of the flames, her dress torn and scorched in places where she moved too close to the flames.

To her right was Sam, who was rushing as he hooked his laptop up to a speaker. When he was done, he tapped a button. A pre-recorded voice rang out from the speakers.

" _Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus, omnis satanica protestas, omnis incursio infernalis adversii. Omnis congregatio et secta diabolica, ergo, draco maledicte ecclesiam tuam. Secura tibi facias libertate servire, te rogamus, audi nos_."

The air was filled with black smoke and the sound of demons being forced from their vessels. Vetis sighed when faced with Dakota's vessel. "What… what's going on…"

Vetis grabbed the woman by her neck and forced her on top of the holy fire, ignoring his screams in favor of walking over her to Adrienne. He picked her up, cradling her in his arms like a newborn. When he looked up, Dean and Castiel had joined Sam. Castiel held his angel blade high. Vetis rolled his eyes. "This is not my day," he said, vanishing from the room. Cas threw the blade a moment too late.

* * *

Adrienne woke to Vetis patting her head with a warm washcloth. He smiled softly at her as she sat up in the bed. "Look who finally decided to grace us with her presence."

Adrienne didn't smile. She looked haunted, a faraway look in her eyes. "Adrienne, are you okay?"

She shook her head. "I talked to him, Vetis."

The angel frowned. "Who?"

"My father. Lucifer."

Vetis's eyes widened. "You spoke to him?"

As testament to her stunned state, Adrienne wasn't even sarcastic in her answer. "Yeah. And I saw him. After I started hallucinating…someone really should have mentioned that, by the way…"

She moved on quickly, returning to the topic of Lucifer. "And there was pain…so much pain I thought I was going to die… and I thought, this cannot be. This is not right. How does everyone not just kill themselves?"

After a pause, Vetis said, "I'm not sure where you're going with this."

Adrienne faced him, eyes blank. "I'm ready. Let's raise Lucifer."

End of Part One


	11. Part Two — Chapter One

Part Two: Light

Chapter One: The Light Bringer

* * *

 _"I am being loyal_

 _so why do I feel_

 _this is a betrayal?"_

* * *

 _April 30th, 2011_

For all that angels considered themselves to be better than all others, and thought of humans as barely being above their primate cousins (if not far below them), the first war wasn't amongst humans.

It wasn't amongst animals, monsters, leviathans, or even demons.

The first war was between angels.

Vetis remembers it, clear as crystal, bright as dawn. But he remembers the time before that even better.

In all honesty, the time before the split was a bit boring. The angels, created for the sole purpose of serving God, had little to do. Oh, they had some minor jobs; ensuring the leviathans remained imprisoned, causing or averting natural disasters on Earth, but with plenty of time in between. There were no humans at the time, although father had created thousands, if not millions, of other animals. Vetis himself had been partial to snakes, a trait he shared with his older brother, Lucifer.

Lucifer, like all angels, had no human form. Yet Vetis doubted there was a single being, angel or otherwise, in the entire universe that had not found Lucifer beautiful. And why wouldn't they? He had been pure light, with silver and gold wings that were as grand as they were powerful. When combined with his natural desire to please, one could say that Lucifer was perfect and would be met with universal agreement. Although, in all truth, he was a bit childish, with a streak for petulance. Still, Lucifer, was very proud of his reputation as the perfect angel. And there was no reason for him not to be; the idea of sins hadn't yet been thought of, and so no one had heard the phrase 'pride goeth before the fall'. All things considered, the angels could hardly be blamed for not knowing what would happen next.

Humans, at first, had seemed like nothing more than another in a long line of animal creations. Not as hairy as their ancestors, and perhaps a bit more inclined to large-scale violence than was normal, but nothing unique as far as Heaven was concerned. (And their poetry was nothing compared to that of the Neanderthals, in his opinion).

But Father certainly thought there was something special about them. This was clear from the moment the first human came into existence. This animal - Adam, as he would later be known - was 'special'. For humanity, God had combined the purely physical nature of animals and leviathans, in the form of a body, with the energy based being of angels, in the form of a soul. While some were curious at these new animals, Vetis was more than a bit disgusted. Look at these things, with their primitive minds and weak bodies. See how easily they succumb to greed and anger. It never occurred to him that angels might have the same flaws.

But what happened next could not be ignored, no matter how he tried. God said unto his angels, 'You will love them as you have loved me, and you will place their will above your own'. Well, it was more a series of complex wavelengths than actual words, but that was the gist of it.

Vetis, for the first time in his existence, was not happy. He wasn't even content. He was...discontent. Sad. Angry. Before He had lived in a dream-like state of constant joy and general pleasantness. Then these new feelings sneaked into his head when he wasn't looking and completely took him over so that he could barely stand to look at the humans he was now forced to serve. But what could he do? He was an angel. He was made to be obedient. He could not turn from his father, no more than any of his brothers or sisters could.

But Lucifer did.

Lucifer, who was brighter and gentler than all others, turned like a dog that bit its owner's hand. Before anything else, he went to Michael. Vetis, for his part, had never had any particular love for his oldest brother. He was strict and obedient, with little in terms of love or kindness, unwavering in the sense that his father, and by extension, Michael himself, were always right (a trait that did not change in the coming time). But Lucifer was, and always had been, his favorite brother. Maybe it was because before Lucifer was created (angels couldn't really be said to be born), Michael was alone, with his father only occasionally giving him orders. Lucifer was the first real friend that Michael had, and really, the only one. Their bond was strengthened further by their complementary personalities. Where Michael was strict, Lucifer was loose, only doing the bare necessities. Where Lucifer was gentle, forming close bonds with his siblings, Michael chose to spend time only with Lucifer, which of course was a larger source of pride for the lightbringer than the love of all of heaven. And though Lucifer was close to many angels, to many he only ever gave his kind-hearted smiles (or at least the angelic equivalent), Michael was the one he went to with his feelings about everything, good or not.

So when Lucifer went to Michael with his concerns and his anger, it was nothing unusual. What _was_ unusual was what he had to say. Though Lucifer was never quite as strict as following the rules as his older brother (and, in fact, many of his younger siblings), he had never outright _rebelled_. But this was too much. They were celestial beings, God's first children, second only to their father. Even the idea of serving these hairless apes was insulting.

So Lucifer, filled with righteous fury, went to his brother and pleaded for help. Vetis did not know what he was expecting would happen, or even what he had hoped would. Maybe that Michael would stand with him against their father, or that he would help Lucifer destroy the humans. Maybe he just needed someone to confide in. Whatever it was, Michael turned on him, immediately telling their father (who already knew anyway, but Michael was a suck-up like that). Lucifer was given a choice. Repent and remain in Heaven, though he would still have to protect the humans, or refuse and fall. Lucifer didn't care for either option, and instead went to the other angels, begging for help. Vetis was proud to say that he was the second to join his brother's cause, after Azazel.

When the time came to fight, nearly a fifth of the angels were on their side, while the remaining ones, either too scared or too obedient to do anything other then follow their father, stood against them.

They fought for years. Wherever they battled, lightning flashed across the sky, so loud and so bright that animals and people alike turned to stare, soon turning to run when the lightning caused fire to spread across the land. Waves hundreds of feet tall rose up and crashed against the ground as the earth shook and lava rained down. By the time the war was over, humanity hanging on by a thread, and both sides had experienced heavy losses. Vetis remembers one specific fight, in the early days of the war, when no one had died yet and they were still hesitant to fight each other at all.

Close in age and rank, it was perhaps no surprise that was one a close friend of Vetis. An excellent tactician and soldier, Vetis had great respect for him, and greatly mourned that they ended up on opposite side of the war. Which is why when Vetis saw him, leading a newly formed garrison, he was very scared. Still, he stood his ground and led his own siblings (he refused to call Castiel his brother any longer) against the traitors. As the leaders of their respective groups, it was to be expected that they would go head to head. And they did, still exchanging blows long after the others had either died or fled. Finally, Vetis was disarmed, and completely at his brother's mercy. As Castiel prepared to make the killing blow, Vetis said, "Please, Brother, have mercy." Castiel's weapon wavered, and Vetis took advantage of his hesitation to fly back to Lucifer, evading his brother when Castiel gave chase.

By the time Vetis had returned to his brother's side, he had convinced himself that he should not attempt to escape Lucifer. He had failed in his mission and fled from battle. He deserved any punishment his brother chose to inflict, no matter how he trembled at the thought.

He sank down in front of Lucifer, proverbial tail between his legs, and waited to have his sentence spoken. Instead of the expected execution, Lucifer pulled him up and surrounded him with his presence. "I am so relieved to have you nsafe, brother." It was that moment that cemented his loyalty to his brother, and furthered his hatred for humans, who had forced his kind, gentle older brother of his to such horrific violence against their own.

Though they fought long and hard, the fact was that they were outnumbered, and Michael was a determined leader. Lucifer and what few of his followers remained were banished to Hell, the lone citizens in a what would become a vast and horrible landscape. Still, Lucifer refused to give up. He may be banished, but he was still powerful.

Above him, on Earth, Lucifer could sense the first woman. _Lilith_. She was meant to be Adam's wife, but she was not docile or subservient. She refused to bow to him, or to God. In a way, Lucifer felt a certain kinship with the rebellious woman. But she was human, and that made her an enemy. And Lucifer had the perfect punishment. Not just for her, but for God. Humans were perfect? They were pure and soft and good? He would see about that.

It was, Lucifer felt, too easy. This… _soul_ , was so full of bitterness and resentment even before he touched it. He had no trouble twisting it into the first demon. She was truly foul, with burnt skin and milk white eyes. He was certain she would make a perfect servant. Unfortunately, he was punished before being given an opportunity to test this theory (although, somewhat ironically, Lilith would eventually do well to serve her master). God was, understandably perhaps, quite unhappy with the state of his new creation and felt that retribution was in order.

The Cage, built by God himself, was buried within the deepest, darkest part of Hell, where no one dared venture. And Michael, who had managed to avoid fighting Lucifer directly so far, was now called upon for the worst job of all: imprisoning his little brother.

It was a battle comparable to the war in importance if not in scale, and devastated hundreds of miles of land on Earth. Michael and Lucifer battled for days without rest. Ultimately it was a mistake on Lucifer's part that ended the fight, a momentary lapse that in a fight against anyone else would not have mattered. Within moments, Michael had forced Lucifer into the cage and slammed shut the Gates of Hell.

* * *

It was certainly an awe-inspiring story, Vetis felt. Filled with love, hatred, family and betrayal… everything a story should have. Granted, it hadn't seemed so easy at the time, nor very grand. Just… necessary in a way that certain fated things often are.

He wonders sometimes if it were inevitable. If no matter what he or anyone else had done, it would still have ended up having, even if with slightly different details, or if maybe something could have been done to change things. If Lucifer were more merciful, if Michael were kinder, if human were gone…

It's actually a pretty similar feeling to what he's been going through the last few days. He would often stop to think about whether or not Lucifer's release was something he should attempt to prevent in light of the prophet's confession, or if it is inevitable and he should stand back and allow it to happen. Then Adrienne would tap his shoulder and ask what was so important that he felt the need to stand still for ten minutes while staring at the while, quickly followed by him making up some excuse about what they (she, really) was planning to do tomorrow.

On one hand, to use a human expression, even the thought of Adrienne's dead and broken body is enough to send shivers through his vessel and wings as his eyes flicked between brown and red (he had not spoken to the prophet again since the first time, and had discouraged Adrienne from doing so until more urgent matters were tended to. Then he had kept coming up with progressively more ridiculous urgent matters).

But none of that changed the fact that this was something he had been awaited for literally thousands of years! He could not give it up for what was surely to be a fleeting attraction at best. Although, Adrienne _was_ wonderful. She was attractive without being vain, and far more powerful than anyone else he knew. And sometimes when she laughed, her eyes crinkled in a way that was really cute, and she would cover her mouth because she was kind of insecure about her teeth…

All right, enough!

The fact remained that this was something that needed to be done, regardless of his reservations. Besides, Adrienne would have died eventually, everyone does. It wasn't as though he hadn't thought that Lucifer would allow a half-human to live, even if she _was_ his daughter. But this felt different somehow. Her death at Lucifer's hands had seemed far more vague and distant than it had before he had seen it firsthand (or rather, second hand through Kevin).

But he had spent so much time trying to convince Adrienne this was what she needed to do. He could not go back now.

It was with that in mind that he approached Adrienne, smiling when he saw that she was giving out orders to a small group of demons. She had grown so much, going from a scared little girl with anger issues, to a strong, calm leader. Like Lucifer.

"Tarot, you and your team will secure our entrance at the Gate, we'll need it first thing tomorrow." Tarot, who was possessing a tall bald with dark skin, nodded without question and left to carry out Adrienne's request. The nephilim turned her attention to a small pale woman with dark hair and a round face. "Megan, -"

"Please," Megan said, smiling, "Call me Meg."

Adrienne stared at her for a moment before repeating the name. "Meg," the demon smiled at her and Adrienne continued, "Your team will track and capture as many members of Crowley's inner circle as possible. I believe Dakota already gave you the list?"

Meg nodded. "A few hours ago."

"Good. You may go." Meg made to leave, but Adrienne stopped her. "Oh, and don't tell Khan about this mission. I know he's one of yours, but he only recently switched to our side, and I'm not certain of his loyalty just yet." Meg gave a quick nod and a matching salute and left. Adrienne turned to address another demon, but Vetis grabbed her arm. Adrienne looked back at him with surprise, soon smiling. "Hey you." She turned to face him completely, waving her hand so the demons would step back as she cast a privacy spell so no one would hear them. Her eyes glow white for a short moment, and he can't help but think of Lucifer. They're so similar. Both so beautiful and powerful and _bright_ that he could almost weep. This is why he needed to let this happen, for if Lucifer was the light, then Adrienne was to become the true light bringer. "What do you need?"

Vetis would never admit it, but he preens a bit at Adrienne's attention, given so calmy and without question, and it only makes what he has to do all the harder. "I just wanted to let you know that I'm going to be doing something for a little while, and I won't be able to help you with anything until I'm done."

"Okay," she says with ease. After a moment, she frowns a bit and asks, "What are you doing?"

"It's nothing for you to worry about. It will probably only take a few minutes really, and I'll check in as soon as I'm done."

"Oh. Alright, just be quick, we have a big day tomorrow." She turned away from him then, unravelling her spell without effort. Though he likes how much she trusts him, he is a bit upset to lose her attention and wishes he could stay, but he does have something to do, and it simply can't wait any longer. He leaves without another word.

* * *

Kevin's room was grand, with gilt furniture and beautiful paintings. The bed is on a dais three inches high, and there are thick brocade curtains that allow him privacy whenever the demons servants come by to clean and bring him food. There are first edition copies of several of his favorite books, many of them autographed. His clothes are hand sewn and made of soft, expensive material.

He hates it.

He has no contact with the outside world, and is not allowed to have a phone or computer (not that that surprised him, but still). No one has spoken to him once since he was put in here, and he still didn't know if Vetis was going to kill him or not.

He heard the door open, and started to pull the curtains around the dais, but they wouldn't move. He yanked at them until he saw Vetis standing in the doorframe, turning his hand slightly whenever Kevin tried to move the curtain. "Kevin." He smiled in a way that might seem charming, but felt very creepy at the moment. "It's been a while." He sauntered in, sitting down at the table and picking at the plate of fruit and cheese that had been brought in as a snack earlier. He groans around a mouthful or peach. "This is good, do you want some?"

"What do you want?"

Vetis raised an eyebrow. "Tetchy. Someone clearly hasn't had his nap today," he said in a stereotypical sing-song voice. He popped a strawberry into his mouth, chewing obnoxiously. "But if you must know, I'm here about what I saw the other day. I'm sure you know what I'm referring to."

"Are you going to kill me?" The thought didn't scare him as much as it used to. At least Vetis couldn't do anything to him if he was dead.

Vetis rolled his eyes. "God Kevin, you're so negative."

While Vetis turned his attention back to the food, Kevin gasped at his throat. Vetis was choking him, strangling him as blood flowed from his eyes and nose. Kevin's mouth gaped, searching for air that wouldn't come. After several hours - or was it seconds? - Vetis relented, and Kevin fell to the floor. " Consider that to be a little taste of what will happen if Adrienne ever learned about that little thing we talked about the other day." He shrugged nonchalantly and started gnawing on a piece of cheese. "This is good, is it French?"

* * *

The poem at the beginning is "accidental judas" by dvoyd on tumblr.


	12. Part Two — Chapter Two

Part Two: Light

Chapter Two: Watch The Queen Conquer

* * *

 _She was the heir of ash and fire, and she would bow to no one._

 _\- Heir of Fire_

* * *

 _May 1st, 2011_

The Gates of Hell were massive obsidian structures completely encasing Hell. They were shut so that those inside stayed there, but there also had to be a way for people to get in.

Throughout the gates, there were little holes, just big enough for reapers to cram a soul in. Most of these were all but impossible to find, and even when they _were_ found, they usually closed up once someone actually got out. But Crowley gained control of a dozen or so of the larger ones and bribed the reapers in charge of them to keep them open (when Adrienne wondered how one bribed a reaper, Vetis just said she didn't need to worry about it since those dared to work with Crowley would be dead soon and he would manage the others).

Guarding most of the holes was twenty demons, but this one, being the largest, had thirty. Their leader, Lucas, far from being proud of his high position, was bored. He didn't understand why their had to guard the holes all the time; no one would dare pass through without the king's permission, and if they were really that desperate there were plenty more to be found if one was willing to look.

Idly, he chatted with one of his colleagues, waiting to be released so he could return to Earth, until he saw a group of demons near him. "What do you want?"

They stayed silent.

Lucas bristled, reaching for the blade at his belt. Before he could reach it, one of the newcomers threw something shining silver. The angel blade stuck in Lucas's throat as his skeleton flashed orange, his demonic essence dissipating.

The other guards reached hurriedly for their weapons, but the others descended upon them so quickly they could barely fight back. By the time it was finished, the guards were dead, while Adrienne's demons had only lost three.

Tarot, of course, was pleased with their success and immediately used one of the dead's blood to contact Meg, who was waiting to hear from the groups. "The entrance has been secured; Crowley's guards are dead. If you go quickly, they won't expect you."

* * *

Once all of Crowley's guards were good and dead, Meg lead the demons into Hell, practically bursting with energy. The last real mission she'd been on had been during the apocalypse, before the Winchesters had screwed everything up. She thought of Adrienne. _Maybe not everything_.

The halls of Hell were filled with the screams of the damned. Meg smiled at their pleas, dragging her fingers over their chains, and leaving demon bodies to rot whenever they came into contact. It did not matter; anyone in Hell that wasn't with them was with Crowley, and deserved to die. Any loyalists were either still on earth with Adrienne, or in the other groups in Hell.

Within half an hour, Meg had captured and executed most of the demons that could be considered a member of Crowley's inner circle. There was only one left, Cecily, who had spoken to them on more than one occasion, providing information on Crowley while reporting back the meager knowledge they let loose. Playing both sides, as it were.

Big mistake.

"Please," Cecily begged as two other demons held her arms to keep her from moving. "Please, I'll tell you whatever you want."

Meg towered before her, twirling the angel blade in her fingers. "Where's Crowley?"

"He's in his throne room," she said without hesitation. "Please, I swear, I swear I'm loyal to Adrienne, to Lucifer, please…"

"Here's the thing Cessy," Meg said, crouching in front of her, "I think you are loyal. But not to Adrienne, or Lucifer, or me, or even Crowley. You're only in it for yourself, and that makes you dangerous."

Without another word, Meg stabbed Cecily in the chest, smirking as her bones flickered an electric orange before her body slumped forward. Once she was dead, Meg slit her throat, the blood filling the stone goblet she'd brought, chanting briefly in Latin as the blood bubbled. "Crowley's followers are dead. The king sits on his throne. We await you."

* * *

Crowley looked at the charts his minions had presented to him, head resting on his fist as he tried to stay awake.

"As you can see, in the past year we have taken in 3 to 4 percent _less_ souls than the previous year, which experienced a 2 percent increase from the year before that. Now, we believe that this is due to a sudden loss of over two dozen of our crossroads demons, 18 of which were strategically positioned in America. Now, one solution would be to-"

"Hold on," Crowley interrupted, gesturing at the demons in annoyance, "what's this about the twenty or so dead crossroads demons?" They didn't answer. "Let me guess. Winchesters."

Lane, Crowley's resident yes-man, said, "No, sir, our sources believe that there is another cause."

Crowley waited for him to continue. When he didn't, Crowley said, "Well?"

"We believe that Adrienne Morgenstern - Lucifer's daughter - may be responsible for the deaths."

Crowley thought about that. Charles, the idiot, had yet to report back anything substantial about Adrienne. Only that she was on earth and had limited allies, and recently several of them were exorcised and promptly massacred upon returning to Hell, except for a select few who were being kept for information. Ultimately, they had come to the conclusion that she was not a threat. "What, that child? How dangerous could she possibly be?"

"Oh, I'm better than you think."

The few demons in the room jumped when they saw her. Adrienne was resting her arms and chin on the back of the throne, smirking down at Crowley. She was dressed more casually than normal, in a black tank top with a red leather jacket and black jeans with matching boots. Her only makeup was a dark red lipstick. Crowley stood up when he saw her, backing away.

"Thanks for the seat," Adrienne said, plopping down in the chair and swinging her legs over the arm. "I think I might keep it."

"How did you get in here?" Crowley demanded, practically shouting.

Adrienne, on the other hand, was utterly calm and completely unaffected by the king's theatrics. "It wasn't hard. I just walked in. After killing your guards at the gates and anyone I saw. After that, it was just a hop, skip, and a jump."

One of the demons in the back of the room tried to subtly pull a knife out of his jacket. Adrienne, without looking at him, took the knife, allowing it to hover in the air for a brief moment before stabbing the demon in the forehead.

"Hey now, there's no need to be tetchy, we're all friends here." Several demons came into the room, led by Vetis. They took hold of the others, fighting while Adrienne looked on.

Crowley's supporters were well outnumbered. Soon Adrienne's demons held their opponents still. They pulled back so that they lines the walls, except for Vetis and Crowley, who stood in the middle.

Adrienne stood and walked slowly around the demons, drawing a finger over Vetis's shoulder when she was close enough, otherwise not doing much. Finally she stopped in the middle of the room, waving at Vetis to get him to move back some. Vetis had put a gag in Crowley's mouth to keep him from talking as Adrienne made her speech.

Adrienne looked at her captive audience, expression mildly blank. "I'm not sure what you know about me. Maybe nothing, maybe everything. What you _need_ to know is that I am Lucifer's daughter, and that I am more powerful than _any_ demon or angel. You need to know that I am going to raise Lucifer from the cage, and kill every last angel. You need to know that if you stand with me, you will ascend to Heaven with me. And let your so-called _king_ serve as an example as what happens to those who would defy me."

Vetis removed the gag from Crowley's mouth. Adrienne watched as his face turned red, entertaining herself with his pathetic fuming. "You can't do this!" Adrienne did not acknowledge him, instead sharing a mocking look with Vetis. " I'm the king of Hell!"

Now Adrienne looked directly at him, anger contorting her face as she stood straight. " _You_ are an ant!" She calmed a bit, leaning back some. "And I am a goddess."

" _You_ ," Crowley began, but Adrienne would not let him finish. With a wave of her hand, Crowley had been disintegrated so that it was hard to tell if he'd ever been there. The demons stared at her, some in horror and others in awe. Adrienne turned her back on where Crowley had stood moments ago, moving to sit on her new throne, Vetis following to stand at her side. "Now," she said, settling into her seat, "let's talk business."

* * *

Hours later, once the demons had left to carry out the duties Adrienne had assigned to them, Adrienne finally allowed herself to rest, her body slumping in the throne as she rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand and yawned. "I'm tired."

"You don't need to sleep," Vetis said.

"Shut up," Adrienne countered half-heartedly, groaning. "My shoulders ache."

Vetis thought for a moment before stepping up onto the the wide, flat arm of the throne, slipping behind Adrienne, his thighs framing her waist. She gave him an odd look, but did not object. Vetis pulled at the sleeves of her jacket, slipping them off when she lifted her arms for him, placing it on the arm rest. The tank top she was wearing left her shoulders and arms bare, and Vetis quickly rubbed them when he noticed the goosebumps spreading over her skin. Adrienne drew in a breath when he did that, watching him from the corner of her eye. She turned away completely when he started massaging her shoulders, closing her eyes as she felt her skin heat up, cheeks blushing.

Vetis didn't notice the blush spreading over Adrienne's face, though he frowned when he felt her shoulders tense. He presses down firmly on her arm. "Relax," he says gently, voice quiet. A moment passes before Adrienne give a quick nod. Vetis makes a satisfied sound when she follows his instruction, carefully massaging her back.

Adrienne made small, happy noises as Vetis worked out the nots in her back and shoulders. Vetis smiled when he heard them, making a pleased sound. A thought entered his mind, growing more and more obtrusive until he was forced to confront it. Slowly, he moved his hands down her back to her waist, brushing over her stomach, feeling the muscles shift with every breath. Adrienne looked back at him in surprise. He kept still, waiting for something. Adrienne gave a careful dip of her head before looking away again, making no effort to move.

Vetis smiled happily, leaning his head on her shoulder to better look at her chest and abdomen, moving his hands under her shirt to better feel her, sensually brushing against her smooth skin, fingers feather-light wherever they touch. Adrienne stiffens when Vetis unhooks her bra, shifting to push the straps off of her shoulders and pulling it out of her shirt, dropping it on the floor. Adrienne's breath hitches when Vetis's calloused fingers slowly ran over her breasts, gasping when he squeezed. She let her hands follow his, holding them in place over her chest.

Vetis kissed her neck, pushing at the strap of her tank top so he could nip lightly at her shoulder. Adrienne leaned her head to the side to allow him better access. She pushed back against him, moaning when she felt him against her back. Vetis slid one hand down to her pants, fingers moving to open them, but Adrienne grabbed his hand.

"Stop," she said, breathing hard. Vetis froze, looking at her in confusion. She said it again, though it was useless this time as he wasn't doing anything. Adrienne pushed herself away from him, practically jumping off the seat. She turned to look at him, still sitting in the throne and looking so confused. Still, he looked impeccable in his soft black and silver uniform, especially in comparison to Adrienne, who was now missing her jacket and bra, and the straps of her shirt had been completely pulled off of her arms, leaving her arms and shoulders bare. Frustrated and feeling incredibly weak, Adrienne did what any great leader does.

She ran.

* * *

Dean and Sam had had absolutely nothing to do since Adrienne had been rescued and it showed in their jumpiness, as well as their constant irritation. They could not even go to see Bobby as he was already working a case with his old friend Rufus, and had refused their help. And Cas had not felt the need to visit, and Dean refused to call him just because he was bored, insisting the guy was busy when asked by Sam. They had soon resorted to an old-fashioned prank war, which had only ended when Dean, in retaliation for his cassette tapes being replaced with pop music, dyed his brother's hair green, which had only somewhat faded several days later. Now they had returned to their more-constant-than-usual bickering. So Dean was relieved when Cas did show up, although he knew it probably meant something was wrong.

"Cas!" Dean said, smiling.

Castiel did not return his enthusiasm, or even his greeting. "Dean, Crowley is dead."

Dean blinked in surprise. "Yay?" When Cas didn't respond, he continued. "Cas, I'm kind of wondering why you look so upset. Sounds like a good thing to me."

"He's dead because Adrienne killed him."

…"Still not seeing the problem."

Castiel sighed in irritation. "Dean, before Adrienne had a few dozen supporters, _maybe_ a hundred. There were thousands more that had been loyal to Lucifer and probably would have been to her, but they couldn't do anything with Crowley in charge. Now she has _all of Hell behind her_. Crowley was content just to be king; Adrienne will not be."

Sam (who Dean swears he didn't forget about) thinks about this. "So before she was angry and scared, and now she's angry and well-equipped."

"Okay, I see your point," Dean says. "So what do we do?"

" _You_ will not do anything." Dean started to argue, but Castiel quickly cut him off. "No, Dean. You ignored me before and we had to hold off over a dozen demons and Adrienne escaped. Now she has an army, and she hates you. If you seek her out again, you will die. And though I wish I trusted you with this, the fact that you sought her out anyway let's me know I cannot."

Dean's jaw clenched in anger as his cheeks flushed. Fighting to control himself, he grit out, "And what exactly are you gonna do? Watch us every second? Heaven needs you."

"Yes it does, and I need to be there. Fortunately, being largely in charge of Heaven means that I can assign angels to look over you."He does not even acknowledge Dean's shocked face before continuing, "From now on the two of you and Bobby shall have no fewer than three angels looking after each of you at a time. They will not interfere with your life or your hunts unless you ask them to do so. They will prevent you from seeking out Adrienne or her demons, and ensure that you are safe if she attempts to find you or if you run into her on accident.

"Cas, this is ridiculous! We don't need you to take care of us, we're not children!"

You would be dead right now if it were not for the sigils I used to weaken Adrienne after you sought her out after I told you not to. Perhaps you've changed your mind about going after her, but that is not a chance I am willing to take."

Dean huffed angrily and turned away from him. Cas grabbed his shoulder, forcing him to turn and look at him. "Dean, I'm only doing this to keep you safe."

Dean shrugged him off, stubbornly crossing his arms. "I don't need your help. I can take care of myself."

"Not against Adrienne you can't." Dean remained silent. "We were lucky last time. The sigils worked well enough, but if Adrienne hadn't been going through withdraw, she could have destroyed us as soon as the demons got there, and Vetis did not want to risk fighting us while Adrienne was weak. I do not want to take that chance again." Dean continued to ignore him. "Dean...I have seen you hurt before. I've seen you _die_ before. If anything like that ever happened again, I would stop at nothing to bring you back. I would tear apart innocent people and myself to keep you safe. So _please_ , for my sake if not you're own, stay safe."

Slowly, Dean loosened, letting his arms uncross as he sighed dramatically. " _Fine_ , I won't do anything stupid."

"Nonsense Dean, I wouldn't want to take away your favorite hobby."

Sam barked out a laugh, stopping when Dean and Cas looked at him in shock, Dean blushing, having forgotten he was there.

"Well," Cas said awkwardly, shifting on his feet, "I have to go now. Take care."

Cas was gone before Dean could object.


	13. Part Two — Chapter Three

Part Two: Light

Chapter Three: Goddess

* * *

 _May 1st, 2011_

Adrienne scooped water with cupped hands, splashing her face with a content sigh before sinking back into the tub, bubbles glowing yellow from the soft candlelight. She scrubbed herself until her skin was red from the harsh treatment. Whenever she stopped, she thought of Vetis again, and renewed her efforts. Apart from the sting of her raw skin, it was nice. Quiet and peaceful where her mind was a hurricane. She would have liked to stay in their for hours, but the water soon grew cold and she didn't feel like heating it.

Adrienne got out of the tub and wrapped herself in one of the fluffy towels she'd requested before going to her adjoined bedroom. Once she was dry, Adrienne sat down in front of her vanity. She wet her face, having been careful to keep it dry, with clean water from a small bowel before rubbing it dry with a cotton hand towel, placing it carefully down on the vanity. She went through the motions of applying her face moisturizer and sweet-smelling lotion, having refused assistance from her over eager servants. When she was done with this, she picked up a bottle of foundation. She opened it, but froze when she looked in the mirror. She almost couldn't stand what she saw. She looked small and weak, and, having destroyed the clothes she was wearing earlier, was now naked. When she looked at herself, she saw Vetis, so confused. A second passed, and she thought of Adam, dark eyes dead, like a fish.

Adrienne grit her teeth and threw the small bottle away. It shattered in midair from the force of her anger, along with the mirror. Adrienne refused to look at it, instead going to her walk-in closet to pull on a trumpet style dress. The smooth feeling of the light, airy fabric against her skin was comforting, and she relished in it, securing the black fabric with a silver belt with a ten pointed star with a ruby in the middle as a centerpiece.

Adrienne looked at herself in the full-length mirror, half scared to see someone else looking back again. Instead she saw herself, regal in her dress, elegant without opulence or even shoes. She looked exactly as a leader should.

Adrienne felt incredibly stupid in that moment, worrying about boys, of all things, when there was work to be done. She sent a demon to tell Vetis she needed to see him and waited in the parlor.

* * *

Vetis hadn't known what to do after Adrienne left, and had stayed sat in the chair for several minutes until he finally decided to leave. He thought of going to see her, but soon decided that she probably didn't want to be around him right now. Instead, he locked himself in one of the private rooms Adrienne had gifted him, refusing to see anyone. It was only when he was certain no one would disturb him that he began berating himself.

What the hell had he been thinking?! He couldn't just touch Adrienne, not like that! She was Lucifer's daughter, she was going to die soon! And even if she wasn't, it was clear that she didn't want him from the way she'd reacting, mainly _running away from him_.

When Vetis arrived, Adrienne was careful not to show any reaction to how nervous he was, as though he thought she might kill him on the spot. Adrienne smiled easily at him, gesturing to the seat next to her. Vetis sat down, still wary, but Adrienne acted as though everything were normal, sipping from a glass of wine as though it were any other day. "What do you need?" Vetis asked, careful to keep his voice level and emotionless.

Adrienne smiled calmly, setting the wine down and grabbing Vetis's hand. "Vetis, you don't have to be so worried. I just want to talk about what we're going to do next."

Vetis tensed at her touch, but allowed himself to relax at her words. "All right. What do you want to do?"

"Well the next step is of course to get the ingredients for the spell. Now, we basically already have the sacrifices and my blood, so we don't have to worry about that. What we need are the angel grace, the soul, and the heart. What do you think we should do first?"

Vetis is almost relieved at how trusting she sounds and finds it easier to talk now. "I think we should get the angel grace first. If we do the other things first, it will draw too much attention from Heaven and we're already on their blacklist as it is."

Adrienne nodded. "If you think that's what best. Problem is, the angels are already avoiding us as is. I doubt that's gonna change just because we need them."

Vetis thought for a moment."Well, there is a spell that will draw any angels on Earth to a specific place. Shouldn't be too hard for me to get it set up."

"Will you need anything?"

"Just some fairy bones, griffin feathers, and blood. Nothing I can't get on my own."

"Okay then. We'll do it tomorrow. I'll wait here while you get the things you need." Adrienne stood up, clearly intending to return to her room, but Vetis stopped her.

"Adrienne...about what happened earlier,"

"We don't have to talk about it."

"Well no, but I just wanted to,"

"Vetis." He focuses on her entirely then. She's not smiling anymore. Her face is like ice. Cold and closed off. "We don't have to talk about it."

She left before he could respond.

* * *

 _May 2nd, 2011_

Sachiel had to admit, if only to herself, that she was quite miffed by her new assignment. She was an angel of the lord, a warrior of Heaven, reduced to watching over Dean Winchester. She almost wanted to argue, but she knew better than to question Castiel. And while this job was certainly not glamorous, the Winchester brothers may be needed once more if Adrienne succeeded in raising Lucifer.

Sachiel contemplated this as she watched over Dean, and to a lesser extent, Sam, on earth whilst her brothers and sisters watched from Heaven.

Without warning, Sachiel heard a pulsing sound from far away. She checked on the brothers to see if either of them had noticed anything, but neither reacted at all. Sachiel attempted to stay on guard, but the compulsion was too much. She flew to where the sound was leading her.

She was in an abandoned warehouse. On the wall was a sigil painted in blood. The sigil was in the shape of a capital 'V' with the right line ending in a backwards question mark. Above the V was a half circle with several short lines coming out of the top. It briefly glowed blue, and when she turned around, there were two people behind her. Or rather, two affronts to nature.

Adrienne didn't say anything. She only advanced on Sachiel, grabbing her by the wing when she tried to escape. Sachiel screamed when Adrienne pulled on the appendage, but stood silent when the nephilim raised an angel blade to her throat. Before Adrienne could cut, Sachiel said, "Please don't kill me. I… I have information."

Adrienne lifted one eyebrow in curiosity, but Vetis scoffed. "Kill her Adrienne."

Adrienne still looked at Sachiel and held her wing, but now she pointed the blade to Vetis. "Let's hear what she has to say." Vetis frowned, but said nothing.

Shaking, and incredibly angry with herself for even considering this, Sachiel said, "The pagan gods know about you. They're looking for a way to kill you. Castiel told me about it."

Adrienne turned to Vetis. "Pagans?"

Vetis nodded. "They exist, but most of them aren't what they used to be." He looked at Sachiel threateningly. "Not enough of a threat to be considered useful information."

Sachiel flushed, trying to think of something else to say. "They're having a meeting. They're there right now at a hotel they've erected in Nevada."

"First of all, not a good enough reason to say 'erected'. Second, how do I know you're telling the truth?"

"I swear I am. Please, please spare me."

Adrienne was still, feeling Sachiel tremble under her hand. Finally, she moved, her blade cutting into the Sachiel's throat. The grace flowed freely from her throat, caught in a bottle by Vetis. When it was gone, Adrienne raised her hand to the angel's neck and healed the cut. Sachiel gasped, clutching at her throat. She stared at Adrienne.

"You're human now," Adrienne said without emotion, "You may go anywhere, do anything you want. But if I ever see you again, I will kill you, swiftly and without remorse." Without another word, Adrienne vanished.

* * *

Adrienne and Vetis reappeared in her sitting room. As soon as they did, Vetis asked her, "What were you thinking? What if she tells the angels about us? This could end everything-"

Vetis tried to talk, but his jaw refused to move, followed by the rest of his body. After a moment of confusion, he realized that Adrienne was doing it.

"You do not question me," she said through gritted teeth, eyes glowing white. "You do not question me, and you certainly do not question me in front of my enemies. If you do it again, it will be your grace I take next." With that, she turned and stalked to her room, only allowing him to move once the door was closed.

* * *

Sachiel lay gasping on the ground for over a minute trying to control her breathing. The room looked weird. She could tell that nothing had really changed about it, but it seemed... _less_ now. Duller, not as bright. She tried to separate herself from her human vessel, but began to hyperventilate when she realized that this was no longer possible. Her vision filled with fuzzy dots of color as blackness creeped in around the edges.

When she woke up, it felt like she had been unconscious for hours, though in reality, it was only a few minutes. She lay there on the floor, not knowing what to do, before finally deciding on a plan. Or the beginnings of one at least.

Sachiel shut her eyes and clasped her hands together, whispering her prayer. "I pray to the angel Castiel. Brother, Adrienne has attacked me and stolen my grace. Please, I need help."

It was only a few moment later when Castiel, along with a dozen other, well-armed angels. He strode towards Sachiel, grabbing her face without preamble. "Are you alright?"

Trembling, Sachiel shook her head. Hot tears flowed down her face. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry…"

"Sachiel, what happened?"

"I… I was watching the Winchesters, like you told me to, and I heard this… this _pulsing_ sound, and I went to it. I didn't know what it was, but I couldn't ignore it. I didn't want to. And then Adrienne was hear…"

She stopped talking as a fresh wave of sobs overcame her. "Castiel, I told her about the pagans! I told her where they are, I told her that they want to kill her!" Sachiel broke down, crying while shouting apologies. Castiel pulled her into his arms, comforting her as best he could.

"What do we do?" One of the other angels asked him.

Castiel thought about this. "The meeting has already begun, and if Adrienne is already there - which I'm sure she is - then we can't go. She'll kill us as soon as she sees us." He frowned, thinking of when Sachiel had prayed to him. "Sachiel, why did Adrienne take your grace?"

"I don't know… maybe she needs it for a spell?"

Castiel nodded distractedly. "Maybe." He stood up, dragging Sachiel to her feet. "Don't worry. We'll get you somewhere safe."

"What about Adrienne?"

Castiel sighed. "We can try to get a message to them, but I doubt it will be of any good. The most we can do is hope that she doesn't do too much damage."

* * *

Hecate sat at the end of her table, far from the front where several of the more important beings presided over the others, raised on a dais like the pompous asses they were. They had argued back and forth for an hour now - do we kill her, do we ally with her, do we ignore it altogether. None of them thought of the possibility that they could not kill her. They were all-powerful beings who had existed for eons. Adrienne was a child, only capable of doing anything because of her demon horde. The fact that she'd killed angels with ease was nothing to them. Angels were not gods.

Hecate saw the truth. Adrienne was dangerous, perhaps more so than anyone in this room. But they didn't care. They had survived for thousands of years. Some were as old as time. They'd survived apocalypses and murder attempts and every upstart - as they were now calling Adrienne - that every tried to take them down. They didn't even think of her as a threat really. More like an annoyance that might become a threat in the future.

Hecate tried to make them understand, but they didn't know. They couldn't know. To know would mean to acknowledge that they were not invincible. They forgot every human that ever felled one of them, they forgot what Lucifer had done only a year ago.

The smartest option, in her mind, was to hide. Adrienne had yet to show any interest in them and she would rather they keep it that way. If all else failed, they might consider allying with her. But she doubted that Adrienne would be open to that - the same girl's father had slaughtered her kind so little ago.

One of the others, a Norse god that she didn't care to know the name of - there were so many important things to know, it seemed stupid to waste time on something so trivial - said, "She's too much of a threat! We have to kill her!" The Norse always were no-nonsense types.

A Greek god - _A disappointment to our people_ \- scoffed. "She's a child! She could never possibly be a threat."

"I'm not sure we would be able to kill her," Hecate said. They turned to stare at her, as though they'd forgotten anyone else was in the room. "I doubt it would be wise to make such an attempt."

The Greek from before - Poseidon, she remembered - made an irritated noise. "Please. I could kill the girl with the snap of my fingers, and I will if I ever see her."

"Then why don't you?"

Before, they'd been too caught up in their own arguing to notice Adrienne (to be fair to them, she'd only been there for a few scant seconds). She stood at the entrance now, robed in a light one-sided red dress with a black belt with small stone beading. Her eyes were a brilliant white light. Their glow fell on the floor and walls around her.

Adrienne strode forward, quickly passing the two tables that were against the wall. She stepped onto the main table, crouching down to look Poseidon in the eye. "What? Is the earth-shaking scared of a little girl. C'mon. Snap your fingers."

Poseidon must have had some sort of death wish, because he raised his hand to do just that. Except when he made to snap, he stopped moving. He was completely frozen, unable to move at all except for his eyes, which stared at Adrienne in terror.

Adrienne didn't seem worried at all, not even when the god's body began to expand before bursting completely, sending flesh and blood flying throughout the room. It marred her dress and her face, though she didn't seem to notice.

Hecate stared at Adrienne as the others screamed and cursed. One of them stood up, face screwed in anger. "You think you own the planet?"

Adrienne hopped off the table, smiling like a child. "Of course I do."

The god strode forward. "What gives you the right-"

Adrienne's arms ripped through his chest. His mouth was left gaping in shock as she pulled him closer. "No one gave me the right." She pulled her arm out and pushed him away. "I took it."

Adrienne was a hurricane, creating a whirlwind of blood and screams and _fear_. Hecate might have been awed if she weren't so scared. She hid under her table, feeling the constraints Adrienne had placed on their powers like heavy chains around her body.

Soon, Adrienne finished with the others. Hecate hoped she would leave now, but she must have sensed her, because soon she reached under the table, grabbing the goddess by the ankle and dragging her out. Hecate screamed, kicking her legs out and clawing at the ground in desperation.

Adrienne flipped her over, clutching her wrists and straddling her hips to hold her down. She tried to think of something that might stop her, anything that might save her life.

"Wait! Please, I can help you!"

Adrienne scoffed. "Yeah right."

"No, I mean it. Your family's dead, right?"

Adrienne's eyebrow arched. "Really not the direction you should be going."

"No, I'm the goddess of magic, and necromancy. I can summon them, you could see them and talk to them."

Adrienne still held onto her, but she loosened her grip a bit. Her face was disbelieving, her eyes fading to brown, full of hope and heartbreak. "How do I know you aren't lying?"

Hecate shook her head frantically. "I'm not, I swear I'm not."

Adrienne was thoughtful, her red dress sliding smoothly against Hecate's tyrian purple one as she shifted in her lap. FInally she moved back, slowly standing up and reaching her hand out when Hecate doesn't move. Hecate cautiously took her hand, heaving her up. The feeling of being sucked through a small hole overcame her, and they were gone.


	14. Part Two — Chapter Four

Part Two: Light

Chapter Four: What Has Been Done -

* * *

 _What is more unfair_  
 _Than having to choose_  
 _Between being a monster_  
 _Or being a hero?_

 _—When you have to be both._

 _When you learn that_  
 _The road to Hell_  
 _Is paved with more_  
 _Than just good intentions._

* * *

 _May 2nd, 2011_

Hecate sat in the middle of a loose circle made of salt, an empty brass bowl in front of her. She had placed the bundles of plants Adrienne had in small piles around her - the bark of yew, cypress, and elder trees, along with bits of a wormwood bush leaves and flowers from foxglove and dittany of crete. There was also a few baggies of hair that Adrienne had summoned from her family's graves. Fresh incense sat, waiting to be burned.

Adrienne waited impatiently as Hecate sliced the wood into thin sheets, occasionally asking questions about why something was included or the properties of a certain ingredient. In an effort to appear less threatening, Adrienne had worn a pale yellow summer dress with flower decals at the waist and a pearl pendant. She'd asked the goddess if she could help, but apparently the only job she'd been qualified for was holding the special purple matches (which were admittedly quite pretty).

Adrienne heard a clicking sound, quickly identifying it as the door being unlocked and opened. Vetis walked in, looking wary. Adrienne felt guilty when she saw him, remembering what she'd done to him earlier. She taps Hecate on the shoulder. Adrienne expects her to jump, but she only nods absentmindedly, waving her away before returning to her work.

Adrienne joins Vetis by the door, pulling him out into the hallway. When she let go of him, she saw the wary, almost scared look he had, and felt her heart break a little. They stand awkwardly for a few seconds, and Adrienne is strangely reminded of how she felt when she first had a crush on Adam, making this weird on two levels.

"I'm sorry," they said in eerie unison. Adrienne frowned. "You first."

Vetis let out a heavy sigh, exhaustion etched into his features. "You were right. I shouldn't have spoken to you like that, especially not in front of other people. You're a leader, and as your subordinate, I must show respect to you at all times."

Adrienne shook her head. "God no. Vetis, if you have a concern, then you should tell me. I was being stupid. You've never lead me wrong before, and I should listen to your opinion."

Vetis's eyes, already dull, dimmed further, and for a moment he looked really sad. It was gone in a moment, but Adrienne was sure she'd seen it. But things still weren't quite right about them, so she decided not to mention it just yet, and continued on to her own apology instead. "And I shouldn't have froze you earlier. You're not an enemy, you weren't trying to hurt me, you were just trying to talk to me, and I overreacted."

With nothing left to say, she hugged him. It took him a moment to return the gesture, and it was stiff at first - they hadn't quite regained the ease they'd had before. But they warmed to each other after a few seconds, and it felt better. More natural.

Vetis pulled away eventually, asking, "So what's going on in there?"

Adrienne looked back to the room. "Oh, there's a Greek magic goddess getting ready to summon my family's spirits to the earth."

… "What?"

Adrienne sighed. "Well I went to the place that Sachiel told us about, and it was true. They were trying to come up with a way to kill me." She noticed his alarmed look, and assured him, "Don't worry, I killed them. Except for this one, because… because she said that she could summon my family's spirits, and I think she's telling the truth." She looked excited now, and so young in that dress. Vetis almost couldn't help but be happy for her. But there was a glaring problem.

Vetis didn't know if the angels had said anything to Adrienne's family before killing them, but all it would take was a few words before she knew he'd set them up.

He wanted to say something - maybe try to kill Hecate before anything could be revealed - but he was already on thin ice with Adrienne. One wrong move, and he'd fall through.

Besides, it was hard to worry about anything when Adrienne smiled like that, eyes shining and lips spread wide.

She grabbed his wrist, pulling him back into the room. Incense was burning, filling the room with the heady scent of bay laurel and thyme. Gray tendrils of smoke slinked around them. Hecate had finished arranging the plants, and the bowl was filled with thin sheets of bark, whole leaves, and sprigs of flowers. "I'm ready to begin. Who do you want to see first?"

Adrienne thought about it for a moment before saying, "My dad. Josef." Hecate emptied one of the bags of hair into the bowl and reached a hand to the nephilim. Adrienne handed her the matchbox. Hecate swiftly lit a match and dropped it in the bowl. Green fire erupted from it, casting its glow over the women and Vetis. Hecate began chanting in ancient Greek.

" _You who lived yesterday, I'll call you from my mind to yours. Come back from the shadows into the light and show yourself here_."

The smoke from the incense coalesced, forming a shapeless mass roughly the size of a man. Slowly, details began to appear. The smoke shaped itself into a proper body, slowing forming legs and arms, a head and neck. After a moment, the small details came in, the eyes and nose, the fingernails and mouth. Finally Josef stood before them, made only of gray smoke and wearing the clothes he'd died in.

Josef blinked, looking incredibly confused. His eyes flitted around the room before falling on his daughter. "Adrienne?" His voice was quiet and rasping. He sounded like he was sick.

It was the most beautiful sound Adrienne had ever heard.

Adrienne rushed forward, and was distantly surprised to find that she could touch him, though he didn't feel the same as he used to. He was less solid. She almost felt like her hands would slip right through him. Still, she doubted that she had ever been so happy.

But Josef did not share the sentiment. He was stiff when Adrienne touched him, and rapidly pushed her away once he regained his senses. Adrienne blinked owlishly at the rough treatment. "What's wrong?"

"'What's wrong'?" He sounded half-hysterical, like he might start laughing any moment from insanity or frustration. "Adrienne, what's wrong with you?"

Adrienne looked confused, and her hands were starting to form fists as if in self-defense. "What do you mean?"

Josef looked at his daughter in disbelief. "Adrienne, I've seen you. I watched over you for weeks, until I couldn't stand to look anymore. And still I knew, still I felt every horrible thing you did. Adrienne, you have _tortured and killed people_. Tonight only, you killed over a dozen people."

Adrienne's eyes glowed dimly. She could hear her teeth scraping against each other. "Those _people_ wanted to _kill_ me. I did what was necessary -"

"Necessary? Was it necessary that you mutilate an innocent angel? You would have killed her if she hadn't given you any information!"

"The angels are not innocent! Or do you not remember what they did to you, to us?"

"What they did does not justify your own actions Adrienne. You're developing this black and white view of the world that isn't right, and isn't possible."

"What do you want me to do? Stop? It's too late for that. The guilty are going to get what's coming for them, and I will be the one to send it."

"Okay, fine. Say all the people you've hurt, everyone that you killed, all the blood on your hands is justified. What about what you're planning now?"

"What do you mean?"

"I know what you're planning. I know what _he_ talked you into." His tone was accusing, and he looked past Adrienne to Vetis, who seemed surprised at being addressed.

Adrienne's eyes turned completely white now. "Do _not_ talk to or about him. I am only alive because of him."

"Maybe you shouldn't be."

Adrienne felt like a bucket of ice-water had been dumped over her head. She knew Vetis had placed a hand on her shoulder, but she couldn't feel it. "You don't mean that," she said quietly.

Josef didn't try to take it back or defend what he said. "Adrienne, don't you understand what you're doing? You're going to destroy the entire world."

But Adrienne wasn't listening. She had gone away, safely hidden in a corner of her mind. Vetis, realizing she wasn't going to say anything, said, "Adrienne knows what she's doing. She understands the consequences -"

"I felt it." Adrienne's eyes were a dull brown and hooded, her head hung low, and she wasn't looking at any of them. "The pain. All the pain in the world, from every man, woman, and child. I felt like I was going to die. I thought I did. I thought I died and was in a place worse than hell."

"But that's not all the world is. There are good things, things that are worth living and fighting for -"

"Maybe there are good things in this world, I don't know anymore. But I don't think they're worth it." Her eyes shone with unshed tears. She looked at Josef pleadingly. "Please understand. I'm doing this because the people - humanity - deserves peace."

"And they'll get it, when they die when they're meant to."

"They are meant to die when I decide they are. Adrienne, please. If you don't stop, then soon you're going to get to a point where you can't anymore."

"I certainly hope so." Her eyes were still dark, but there was steel in her voice now. She looked to Hecate. "Banish him."

Josef tried to speak, but could not say anything. As he looked around in confusion, his hand at his throat, Hecate began chanting. " _You who lived yesterday, thank you. Now fly away from this earth, and join the world of spirits_." Josef's body began to unwind. His arms and head disbanded, leaving only his eyes in the gray mass. Soon, those too were gone, and tendrils of smoke filled the room once more.

Adrienne and Vetis stood in silence. Vetis stared at her back, wondering if he should say something. "Are you alright?"

Adrienne didn't respond for a moment. She looked lost, a far-away look in her eyes. Finally she said, "I don't know." Her voice cracked and tears began to stream past her eyes. Vetis moved forward, carefully putting one arm around her. Adrienne buried her face in his chest, sobbing as she held onto his shirt.

Vetis shut his eyes as he held her. He rocked her softly, kissing her temple. He opened his eyes again when Adrienne had calmed some. His eyes caught Hecate's. "What do you want to do with her?"

Adrienne dragged in a breath. "I don't care, I just don't want her here."

"Should I kill her?"

Adrienne thought about it, eventually shaking her head. "No. She did what I wanted. Just get her out of here."

Vetis nodded, running his hands over her arms in comfort and kissing her head once. "I'll be back in a minute."

* * *

Vetis lead Hecate back to Earth. She turned away from him, ready to leave, when she felt his hand on her wrist. She looked back to him. There was an angel blade in his other hand. His eyes were a vibrant red. Wings stretched far above them both.

Vetis tightened his grip, preventing her from leaving. "Adrienne said to let me go."

Vetis rolled his head and shoulders in a 'Well yeah, but...' gesture. "Yeah, but what Adrienne doesn't know won't kill her."

Without another word, he pierced her chest with his angel blade.

* * *

When Vetis returned, Adrienne had left. He found her in her room, lying motionless in bed. He carefully closed the door behind him, just loudly enough that she knew he was there. When she didn't say anything, he asked her, "Are you okay."

After a few seconds, Adrienne slowly shook her head.

Vetis moved forward, coming to stand by her. "Do you need me to do something. I could get you some food, or a blanket-"

"Vetis," Adrienne stopped him. Her voice was small and weak, and her eyes were red. She was curled up in a ball on top of the duvet. She'd changed into a white nightgown, leaving the yellow dress fro before partially torn in a pile in the corner of the room. Vetis thought she looked very young, and very innocent. "Could you just… can you hold me?"

Vetis's surprised shone through his eyes, but he didn't let him stop it. He nodded and took off his shoes. He got on top of the other side of the bed, behind Adrienne. He lay awkwardly, not quite sure what to do until Adrienne rolled over to face him, moving closer. Vetis wrapped her in his arms, tucking her head under his chin.

* * *

The poem is "you are not heads or tails; you are the coin" by dvoyd on tumblr. The words for the spell Hecate used to summon Josef can be found here: /a-spell-to-invoke-a-dead-spirit-or-ghost.


	15. Part Two — Chapter Five

Part Two: Light

Chapter Five: Choose

* * *

 _Bad men doing bad things_  
 _That's common; ordinary_  
 _Unremarkable._

 _It's when good men_  
 _Do evil deeds_  
 _That the devil smiles._

* * *

 _May 3rd, 2011_

Vetis didn't sleep. He didn't sleep, but Adrienne was able to slowly lull him into unconsciousness. Within half an hour, his hooded eyes closed completely. He even let out a little snore. It was kind of adorable.

Satisfied that Vetis would not be watching her sleep, Adrienne lay her head down and closed her eyes.

Adrienne slept for a little over an hour, and woke up cold and wishing she'd thought to get under the covers. Although, her side was weirdly warm. She looked around the room, confused at first to see the fallen angel beside her. She smiled at first when she saw his peaceful expression, even thinking that he looked like an angel. Her face fell when she remembered what had happened. She felt like she should cry when she thought of the fear and disgust that had clouded her father's face, but she couldn't. Maybe she was out of tears. Adrienne laughed bitterly to herself. _Wouldn't that be something._

Vetis, at least, was still asleep. Adrienne was half ashamed to admit that she breathed a sigh of relief when she realized he wasn't awake. She brushed her hand over the side of his face, placing a gentle kiss on his forehead. He didn't respond.

Adrienne slid off the bed, pulling her nightgown off over her head and dropping it on the floor. Behind her, she heard Vetis make an upset noise. He rolled around on the bed, reaching out for her, his hand closing around empty space. He whimpered pathetically, a frown contorting his face. Her heart ached to look at him, and she caressed his face. "Shhhh, it's okay. I'm here, I'll always be here." Her palm glowed yellow, and Vetis returned to his peaceful state with a snore.

Adrienne opened her closet. She thought of wearing one of her dresses, but that didn't feel right. After some deliberation, she put on a plain pair of jeans, an orange halter top, and a pair of sandals. She almost smiled. It felt like she was herself again, before there were angels and demons, and when college still mattered.

Now that she was awake, Adrienne wasn't sure what she wanted to do. She didn't want to stay in Hell, and she definitely didn't want to be there when Vetis woke up (she figured she had half an hour, but it was hardly an exact science), because, although she did care about him, she had a feeling it would be more awkward than anything else, and she was so upset right now that she might actually start crying if things were too awkward.

What she really needed was comfort. Somewhere she could go to just sit and soak in the feeling of home.

She thought about it for a few second before realizing where she should go.

* * *

Adrienne sat on the sidewalk across from her house. She had tried to go in twenty minutes ago, but her hands shook when she tried to open the door, her mind filling with images of dark blood and orange flames and silver blades, the sensation of drowning in death shaking her.

Adrienne sat outside on the lawn, picking at the dead flowers in irritation (her mother had worked for months to get the damn things to grow, and then they just go and die! Who does that?) She was hidden from human eyes, and glowered in annoyance at the door before trying again five minutes later. She started to push the door open, just a sliver, before she had to stop. Each time, she moved a little bit farther away as she tried to build up her courage.

When it had been twenty-three minutes, she stood up, walked across the road (not teleport, she was pretty sure she'd end up in China if she tried that right now), practically tiptoed across the lawn, and was generally so slow that it took her three minutes to get to the front door. Steeling herself, she raised her hand, wrapped her fingers around the knob, unlocked the door telepathically… and ran away.

She didn't stop at the sidewalk this time. Rather, she kept running until she was nearly a mile away, at the park she used to take Zac to. She sat in the shredded pieces of tree bark, staring at the swings. There were rain clouds in the sky, heavy and gray, so there was no one there to see her except a few people in heavy coats with hoods to protect them against the wind. Adrienne pushed the swings slowly. The creak of the metal was nice in a way, though she used to think it was the most annoying thing in the world. At first she did it telepathically, but then she sat in the swing and pushed herself back and forth. A small smile crossed her face, and she even let out a laugh of pure, child-like happiness once she got really high.

But soon her head started to hurt from the constant movement, and her hands ached from holding onto the chains. She stopped smiling and got off, quickly fixing her pains. Adrienne sighed, looking from the swing to in front of her. She almost took a step back when she saw the church across the street.

Really, it shouldn't have been so surprising. That church had been there for over a hundred years, and Adrienne was half convinced it would be there for a hundred more. But it still surprised her, almost as though she hadn't realized something so good could exist in the world anymore. It was the same church that her family had gone to every Sunday, followed by an afternoon at the park considering the weather was good. It was a happy memory. Or it had been two days ago.

Adrienne shifted nervously on her feet, looking to each side as though expecting someone to jump out of the bushes and stop her. When they didn't she ran across the world, throwing open the church door before she could change her mind.

There was a small room that she had to pass through before she could get to the sanctuary. It was darkly painted with one small ceiling light and a table of flowers in each corner.

The door leading to the sanctuary had two rectangular panes of stained glass depicting Jesus and his disciples, a pattern of gray stars on the perimeter. The room was filled with rows of darkly colored pews with soft blue cushioning - for the virgin Mary, Adrienne remembered. The particular shade of sky blue that Adrienne hated was often associated with her. Candles decorated the walls, the soft glow giving the place a warm feel. There was a life-sized cross behind the podium with a model of Jesus, blood dripping from where he'd been nailed, dead eyes staring at you wherever you go. After an hour or so sitting in the pews, listening to the preacher drone on and on, Adrienne would glare at the cross, thinking, _You're the lucky one_.

There were only a few other people there, the really desperate people that come whenever they can, no matter how bad the weather is or how late it was. Adrienne supposed she could count herself as one of them now.

Adrienne thought of hiding herself - it was never safe anymore - but she wanted to be seen. She wanted people to look at her and know she existed, even if they didn't care. She wanted them to see her and think nothing of it. Just an ordinary girl, with no mission or special destiny.

Besides, she was pretty sure none of them knew her. She hadn't lived here that long.

Adrienne sat in the far right of the front left pew, as close as you could be to the podium without standing. She stared into the dead man's eyes for over a minute before closing her own for longer still.

Someone touched her shoulder.

Adrienne jumped, eyes flying open to the man standing next to her. He had stepped about a foot back, hands held out in a placating gesture. He was plain looking, probably in his thirties, with thinning brown hair and green eyes. She realized he was a preacher when she saw his plain black clothes and white collar. "Hello."

"Uh, hi. Can I help you with something?"

"No, no. It's just that… you look familiar, but I don't think we've met. What's your name?"

Adrienne forced herself to stay calm. _He doesn't know who I am. He probably saw me on the news a couple of times, or saw someone who looked like me. He doesn't know me._ "Lorelei. Lorelei Abeln. But most people just call me Lori."

"That's a nice name Lori. I'm Father Thompson." he said. He had a gentle voice, and a kind smile. Like a father. "Are you new to town?"

"No, I'm actually just sort of passing through."

"Really? Forgive me for asking, but most people who are just 'passing through', as you said, do not stop at the local church."

Adrienne was sure her eyes were wide with nerves and fear, and couldn't help the way she stumbled over her words. "Yeah, well, I guess I just… needed some help."

"Help?"

"Spiritual help. You know, guidance and faith and all that fun stuff." She tried for a smile, but it came across more pained than anything else.

"Is it working?"

Adrienne prepared to say yes, of course it is, please leave. But she was so tired of not being able to talk to anyone about what was going on. She couldn't even really talk to Vetis half the time. He just wasn't _human_ enough.

Adrienne sighed. "No. It's really not." She stared at the cross again, hands limp in her lap, but there were no answers to be found there.

"If you don't mind my asking, what's troubling you?"

Adrienne paused before answering, staring in front of her. "A couple of months ago, my parents died. And since that happened, I've done things, that I know they wouldn't be proud of. But the thing is, I thought I was doing the right thing."

"Do you still think that?"

"See, that's the thing. Part of me still thinks that it's the right thing to do, that I should keep doing it. But then I think of my parents, and I'm not sure anymore."

"Well how do you know your parents would be ashamed? If you think it's the right thing, why wouldn't they?"

"We had… different views on certain things. Mostly philosophical, really."

"So you think that you're right, but you're worried that they wouldn't?"

Adrienne nodded. "Basically."

"Do you know what you're going to do next?"

"Not really. That's kind of why I'm here." _Great, now I'm being a smart ass to a priest._

"Have you tried praying?"

Adrienne fiddled with her hands, eventually forcing herself to stop. "To be honest, I'm not really the praying type."

"Really? Why not?"

"It just doesn't seem to work for me."

"Well, maybe that can change."

Adrienne almost scoffed, but stopped herself just in time. "Yeah, maybe it will."

Father Thompson smiled then, a warm, friendly smile so different from than the threatening ones demons, or even her own, which is creeping more and more towards frightening. "I'll leave you alone now. Good luck."

He left, and when Adrienne looked around, she realized that everyone else had to. She was alone now, with only the statue staring down at her.

She knew that God didn't care. That he would probably destroy her if he was there. But she believed once. She sat in this room, and prayed. Prayed for good weather and good grades and happiness for herself and her family.

 _Maybe the fourth time's the charm._

Adrienne bent her head down to rest on her clasped hands with a soft sigh. _Here goes nothing._

With a voice barely above a whisper, not loud enough for anyone who might come in to hear her, Adrienne said, "Vetis says you're not there." Adrienne shrugged. "Maybe you aren't. But right now I need help, I need… guidance. And you're supposed to be good at that sort of thing." Adrienne paused to think about what to say next. "And maybe you don't care, but I guess I'm desperate. If you are there, then you probably already know about what happened between my dad and I. And you probably know that I'm… having doubts. I'm not sure what to do, and I need help deciding. So if you could help me, then I would be really grateful."

Adrienne waited, but nothing happened. She wasn't sure what she'd been expecting. Maybe to feel different. More sure of herself, of Vetis or Josef. But nothing had changed, and now she felt like an idiot.

Adrienne made to stand up, and was shocked to see Vetis standing behind her.

His jaw was hard set, and his fury-filled eyes were red. They looked different than they usually did. More like fire than wine.

"What, the hell, is wrong with you? How can you let yourself do something like this? Have you forgotten everything we've been through, all the sacrifices that have been made? How can you be so stupid?"

Adrienne was sure her eyes were glowing, but she didn't care. "There is nothing wrong with me. What's wrong with you?"

Adrienne was sure she'd never seen him so angry. He grabbed her arm, knuckles white with pressure. She looked down at where they were connected, about to tell him to move, when she felt searing pain running up her arm, like fire. Her arm was glowing orange, like a dying demon. "Ow! Stop!" He held on. "Vetis, STOP!"

The pain spread up to her shoulder, soon filling her head and torso until it covered every part of her. Adrienne clawed at Vetis, but he held firm. Adrienne whimpered in pain, acid tears spilling from her eyes onto the pew, burning holes in the blue cushioning.

"Please… please stop, Vetis…"

Finally, when the pain had grown to nearly unbearable proportions, he let go.

Adrienne sucked in a breath, pulling her arm against her chest and holding it there, cradling it carefully.

"Do you know what that was?" Adrienne shook her head. "That was what I felt when I fell. That was the feeling of my father, the man you just prayed to, throwing me from Heaven. And if you think that hurt, then you can't even imagine what Hell was like, what Lucifer felt."

Vetis grabbed her jaw, forcing her to look at him. "I'm going to say this once, and then I better not have to ever say it again. That man you were just praying to? He's gone. Whether he's dead, or on the other side of the universe, or taking a fucking vacation in Mexico, he is not here. The only thing here is pain, and suffering. Because of him. He created us and left us a shit hole without a care in the world. He threw me into _Hell_. The best case scenario is that he doesn't care. The worst is that he's a fucking sadist with no care for the things he creates. You have a chance to end it, and I think you should take it. And if you don't want to, then you better tell me."

With that, he stood up and stormed out of the church. Adrienne jerked when he let go of her, and turned back to stare at him, expression quickly shifting from shock to an almost desperate fear. "Vetis!" she yelled. He kept walking. Adrienne stood up, twisting her body to face him. "Vetis, come back!" He was gone.

Adrienne sat there, stunned by what had happened. She could still feel the pain, the _heat_ , that Vetis had shown her. And mixed with the physical pain was a burning hatred worse than everything else combined. She hadn't even realized Vetis _could_ feel things like that.

She stayed for over half an hour, thinking. When she made up her mind, she left.

Vetis wasn't hard to find. He was sitting in the parlor room that he'd claimed for himself. He was sitting in one of the plush chairs, drinking wine from a large whiskey tumbler (it always got on her nerves when he did that. Wine glasses exist for a reason, dammit!)

"What?" He asked in a voice akin to a growl.

"I… I just…" Adrienne sighed, rubbing her face with her hands. "You're right, I know you're right, but it's _hard_. It's hard to accept something you don't want to believe." What seemed even harder was to face Vetis when he looked like he might kill her at any second. Logically, she knew he couldn't, but it hurt to see him like that. "Please, let me show you, let me prove to you that I do believe in this."

Vetis's face was void of emotion when he looked at her. "You want to prove yourself?"

Adrienne nodded enthusiastically.

Vetis's eyes were still red, though no they betrayed no emotion. "You know what the next ingredient is, right? The soul?"

"Yeah, a pure soul. What, do you know where one is?"

"Oh, I know exactly where one is. And I want you to be the one to get it." He picked up a large glass bottle with a cork stopper from the table in front of him and handed it to her. It was glossy, and seemed to shine the slightest bit gold. "The glass was made using holy fire. It will hold the soul until we need it

"Okay. Where's the soul?"

He smiled then, a scary one full of teeth and the promise that she was not going to like what happened next.

* * *

Father Thompson flitted around the sanctuary, putting out the candles one by one. He had finished half the room and was preparing to do the other half, when he noticed the woman sitting in the back pew. She was leaning forward slightly, her face dimmed by the lack of light.

"Excuse me miss, the church is closed."

She said nothing.

"Ma'am, I'm serious, you can't stay here." He walked closer to her, and realized who she was. "What are you doing here Lori?"

For a moment, the woman was silent. Then she said, "I prayed earlier. Like you said I should. And I think I know what to do know."

"Well that's good." Her silence was eerie, and he realized he was scared of her. "What did you decide?"

"I was right." She started to say something else, but stopped herself. " _He_ was right."

She hadn't mentioned a man earlier, and it didn't sound like she was talking about God. "Who was?" She was silent. "Lori, who's he?"

"My friend, my… _protector_." She seemed to curl the last word, almost like smoke, and it is decidedly creepy.

"Well, that's good, but you can't stay here. You can come back tomorrow if you like." He hated the way he sounded. Like he was desperate to get rid of her, but he couldn't help it. Her blank stare and emotionless tone were scaring him. He almost couldn't stand to be in the same room as her, but still he moved closer, only a few feet away now.

"I won't. In fact, I'm never coming back here again. Not this church, not this town, not that house."

"What house?" He was right beside her now, close enough to reach out and touch. He does just that, letting a careful hand rest on her shoulder. "Lorelei, what are you -"

The last word is lost in a sound of pain. Her hand was resting in his chest, clutching for something on a level above the physical. She seemed to find whatever it was, and pulled her arm out, revealing a small ball of pure white light.

* * *

Adrienne appeared in the parlor tossed the jar to Vetis, and left.

Adrienne went to her room. She was tired and wanted to go back to sleep, but stopped to look at herself in the mirror. She was still wearing the clothes she'd put on after waking up. Her jaw tightened, and she ripped the shirt off, tearing it to shreds with her hands. The pants followed the same fate.

When Adrienne was done, she was naked, and her hands and nails ached. She didn't really want to get dressed again, but she knew she couldn't stay naked all day. She looked through the closet for something to wear, finding a black cotton gown with an a-line cut and petal sleeves. It was soft enough to sleep in, and she thought she might just do that.

As she lay down to take her nap, she thought about what had happened. She was ashamed of herself. She had allowed the doubt of a human to cloud her mind. She'd lost sight of her mission. Now she needed to center herself, to concentrate on the goal at hand. And most importantly, she needed to separate herself from her so-called family. _Josef_ , _she thought, is not my father. I have a father. One who has protected me, who guides my path even now, and I will not fail him._

* * *

The poem at the beginning is "he was an angel once, too, y'know? and he was god's favorite" by dvoyd on tumblr.


	16. Part Two — Chapter Six

Part Two: Light

Chapter Six: - Cannot Be Undone

* * *

 _"If there's a light at the end, it's just the sun in your eyes."_

 _\- Halsey, Young God_

* * *

 _May 4th, 2011_

Adrienne had not spoken to Vetis after getting back yesterday. She had spoken to some of the demons, had even sent Meg to see if any of her followers who were exorcised by the Winchesters, the ache of Dakota's absence resting in her chest like a hole. She wanted so badly to talk to someone, but the only person she could wouldn't understand. She didn't even blame Vetis, really. He wasn't human, he'd never been human, he didn't understand their emotions. She wondered sometimes if angels had their own set of emotions, separate from human understanding, completely unlike anything they knew.

The thought was strangely exciting. She was half-angel; if she could feel like a human, maybe she could feel as an angel. That would probably be simpler; to just center her life, her entire existence, around a single thing for eternity, like Michael with God, and Castiel with the Winchesters, and Vetis with Lucifer.

She thought of asking Vetis about it, but he might not be the best since he had been separated from the angels so long, and seemed more human each day. It didn't help that things still felt awkward between them, which was undoubtedly one of the worst parts of her situation. She missed the ease they'd had before, the comfort he could bring just by being in the same room.

But that didn't matter right now, couldn't matter, because they were _so close_. They just needed one more thing, and it would finally pay off, and everything - her father's words, Thompson's death, the hallucinations - would be worth it.

So she stuffed down her turmoil, and was in such a good mood that she surprised Vetis with her cheery grin when she showed up in his parlor in the morning.

He stared at her, noticing the inky black dress and the elegant way her hair and makeup were done. Completely different from the purposefully casual look she'd had yesterday. Cautiously, he commented, "You're in a good mood today."

"I am," she told him, elegantly plopping into a chair and fixing herself a glass of wine. "It's weird, really. This has been such a crappy week." To call that an understatement would be an understatement. "But we're so close! I almost felt like there might be a light at the end of this tunnel."

Vetis didn't really want to smile, but he couldn't help it. Still his words were careful. "Don't celebrate yet; the next part will probably be the hardest for you."

Adrienne sighed irritably. "Of course it will. What is it we need again?"

He stared at her, wishing he didn't have to say it. "The heart of someone you've betrayed."

Adrienne stopped moving, the glass still pressed against her lips. "Well how hard could that be? Just find a stranger and tell them I'm not going to kill them, then kill them. Boom, betrayal."

"It's not that simple. It can't just be some random person, or even a friend. It has to be someone you know, someone you care about, someone you _love_."

Adrienne laughed harshly. "Everyone I care about is either dead, or in this room."

Vetis would be lying if he said that didn't excite him a bit. He felt incredibly proud to be counted as someone Adrienne cares about. The feeling was ruined, killed by guilt and anger when he remembered the sight of her dead, broken body, and thought, _That's going to happen_. It hadn't felt real before, but like Adrienne said, they were so close. It wasn't just wishful thinking to imagine Adrienne might not be able to get the last ingredient, it was _idiotic_ thinking. He cursed himself for being so angry when he saw her yesterday, for telling her about the soul; she might never have figured that one out on her own, they might have been able to stay how they were for years, _what was he thinking_ -

"Not everyone."

Adrienne stared at him in confusion, running through the options. He could tell when she realized it, could see it in the way her eyes widened while the rest of her body stopped moving completely. "No."

He wanted to cheer, could hardly contain his happiness at being allowed to stay by her side. But in the back of his mind, like a bucket of ice water being dumped over him. Lucifer said, _No_.

Vetis didn't respond, didn't _want_ to. He was angry, angry and bitter. Why should he do this? Why should he have to lose one of the only things he had left, and for a brother who had only valued him as a soldier in the war against God's angels, and then as Adrienne's caretaker when he was on earth.

But as much as he didn't like it - and he _really_ didn't like it - there were more important things to think about than his happiness, or even Adrienne's. What was the human saying? 'Take one for the team'? It seemed oddly fitting for the situation.

"Adrienne,"

"No," she said, setting the glass down with enough force to shake the table, wine slopping over the edges and, falling unnoticed onto her hand. "I won't do it, and I won't let you convince me to do it." She stood suddenly, walking towards the door. Vetis caught her by the arm, spinning her to look at him.

"Adrienne, now is not the time to turn back, not when we are almost done." His words were firm even as his conviction wavered.

"No! Vetis, I can't hurt him, I can't do that! He deserves better! Hell, I deserve better!"

She did. She really, truly did. "I know you do. And I want nothing more than for you to be at peace, but that's not gonna happen until this is over."

Adrienne turned away from him. He placed his hands on her shoulders, gently rubbing them to ease her tension. "Adrienne… he's going to die. One day, sooner or later, he'll die, and when he does, he will be granted paradise. If he can get that and complete the spell at the same time, then what is the real sacrifice?"

"I don't care, I can't do it, I don't want to do it!" Her arm grew burning hot, and he was forced to let go of her.

Not one to be deterred, Vetis slammed his hand on the table. "Dammit, Adrienne! We do not have time to argue about this! The sooner we get the heart, the better!"

"It's not just a heart! He's a person! He's someone I care about, and you expect me to just kill him, just like that?" Adrienne shook her head. "I can't. I _won't_."

"You think that's what's best for him? Adrienne, he is in so much pain right now."

Adrienne faltered. "What do you mean?"

He could see the fear in her face, the dread, and knew he could use it. "Adrienne, you've been gone for over a month. Every day he loses more hope, every day he's in pain. Hell, he was already in pain by virtue of being human. That's all their lives are. Pain, hidden behind a happy face. Then they wonder what's wrong with them, because everyone else seems happy, so why aren't they? Adam doesn't even have a mask anymore. It's too much for him. He can barely function." It was true that he'd been keeping a watchful eye, knowing he was the most likely candidate for the final ingredient, and while he might have been over-stretching it, it was not by much. The boy had taken the rest of the year off of school and was going through the motions of working to pay rent. Vetis was surprised he hadn't moved back in with his parents, and figured it was because he didn't want to be around anyone.

Adrienne's hands were trembling. "That doesn't mean -"

"Adrienne, stop. You can end this." He grabbed her hands, pulling them to her chest. "We can end this. We _should_ end this. What's better for him really. Spending a few more decades on this worthless rock, or beginning an eternity of happiness now?"

Adrienne was silent, staring at their entwined hands. "Vetis, please… I can't hurt him."

"You won't be hurting him. You'll be ending his pain."

Adrienne chuckled ruefully. "You make it sound so nice."

"It's part of my job." He pulled her closer to him, encasing her in his arms so that her head rested against his chest.

"What's the other part?"

Vetis kissed her on the head. "Taking care of you."

* * *

Someone was knocking on the door. Adam tried to ignore it, but it was so _loud_. The person wasn't so much knocking as they were pounding on it, pounding so hard that he could actually feel it. It was shaking the bed and floor. He dragged himself out of bed, pausing to wrap a robe around himself.

He half-ran to the door - which wasn't hard as the small apartment he'd moved into the other week had his room open to the living room. He opened the door.

"What do you -" Adam's eyes widened when he saw her.

Adrienne was wearing the same clothes as the day she left the school, only know they were absolutely filthy, her orange shirt closer to brown, her white jeans nearly black, the cuffs of the legs in tatters. Her shirt was torn in several places, practically hanging off one shoulder. Her hair was tangled, with twigs in several places. Her skin was coated in a thin layer of dirt and grime, her arms and face covered in scratches and bug bites. Dried blood was splattered intermittently over her clothes and in a single smudge under her eye. She didn't have any shoes, her feet covered in rough calluses and painful-looking scratches. She was breathing in heavily, her brown eyes hooded. "Adam."

Adam stared at her in shock for nearly a minute before he could say anything. "Adrienne." The word left him with a large gulp of air.

Adrienne's eyes flitted over him and the door. "I need to come in."

Adam silently nodded, moving out of the way. He stared at her as she walked into the living room, as though if he looked away, she would disappear. She was wimping slightly, scratches evident on her back where her halter top had torn. He saw the bruises around her neck, and realized she'd been choked at some point, probably sometime in the last few weeks. Her voice had been low and raspy, as though she were trying not to over-exert herself.

Adrienne creeped towards the couch, falling at the last moment. Adam dove grabbing her by the arms. She flinched when he touched her, but he was hesitant to move away. She felt the same as she had, her skin smooth, if dirty. Adrienne mumbled her thanks as she sat down, Adam helping her to lower herself safely. He sat beside her, watching Adrienne as though fascinated by her every movement. She laid her head down against the cushion, a small sigh of relief escaping her when she felt her soft it was.

He wanted so badly to ask her what happened, but he could tell she was in pain. She probably didn't want to answer any questions right now.

Adam let her rest for a few moments before asking, "Do you need anything?"

Adrienne peered at him through slitted eyes, hesitating a few seconds. "Can I have some water?"

Adam practically jumped from the small couch. "Of course." He raced to the kitchenette, getting a glass.

Adrienne watched Adam as he busied himself, taking in what was familiar and what had changed. Physically, Adam was almost exactly as she remembered him - pale, with dark brown hair and eyes. They didn't glow, they weren't marbled or red, or even black. They were utterly normal, and completely beautiful.

On closer inspection, he didn't look exactly the same. Adam had always been the sort of person who cared about his appearance, sometimes to the extent that it was a little weird at times. Straightened his hair, got a manicure every two weeks, always well-dressed, even in private. He had lost weight, and though he was always pale, now his skin was the color of pale ash, barely distinguishable from a corpse. His skin was also more taut, especially around his eyes, which had dark circles under them, and his clothes practically hung on him. He wasn't as neatly put together as before. Hell, his shirt had _stains_ on it. If that didn't say how bad it was, she didn't know what did.

Adam brought her the water. She muttered her thanks, sipping delicately at it, careful to keep up the glamour. A spell like this wasn't particularly difficult for her, the only problem being that it required basically constant attention to ensure it didn't suddenly fall. After she 'regained her strength', she gulped the water down in faux desperation. As she finished, she watched Adam over the rim.

In the past, though Adrienne knew she loved Adam, she could never say she was _in_ love with him. Even now, that wasn't true. He was too plain, too ordinary. It was that same normality that drew her to him now, the last thread connecting her to her old life. And here she was, ready with the scissors.

They sat in silence, Adam farther from her now than he'd been earlier. He was looking at her like she was a mirage, and if he got too close, she'd fade away, leaving nothing but sand and thirst.

Despite the almost crazed desperation in his eyes, he looked more alive now then he had when he opened the door. She thought she was hallucinating again when she saw him at first, couldn't believe he could possibly be so worn-down. It was almost funny. He'd looked like he was dead.

Her father's words returned to her then, tinged with worry and fear and anger and desperation.

 _If you don't stop, then soon you're going to get to a point where you can't anymore._

She forcefully ignored the memory. "Can you get me something to eat."

Adam stared at her lips for a few moments before realizing she'd said something. "Yeah, of course." He scurried to the kitchen. "What do you want?"

"Whatever you have. Nothing heavy."

"Got it."

Adrienne stared at his back. Now was the time to do it, when he was too dazed to realize she was doing anything. She had an even better chance when he got the water earlier, but was too weak. If she didn't go now, she might never be able to.

She stood up.

 _Don't do this._

Adrienne moved closer to him.

 _Stop_.

She put his hand on his shoulder, watched him turn to look at her.

 _Please stop_.

Adam frowned. "Is something wrong?"

 _I don't want to do this._

Adrienne cupped his face in her hands, holding onto him so hard it hurt while she pressed their foreheads together. There were tears in her eyes. "You don't know it yet," she said in a small voice, "but I promise this is a good thing."

Before he could ask what she was talking about, there was a horrible pain in his chest. He looked down, seeing Adrienne's arm sticking out of his chest. She pulled it out, holding a clean heart in her hand.

There was no wound, no blood. His shirt wasn't even torn. But he was dead, falling forward almost immediately. Adrienne caught him, setting the heart on the counter to better hold him. She lowered herself to the floor, Adam's legs folding under him. Adrienne cradled him in her arms, her hand brushing over his cheek. She began to cry, her tears landing on his face, leaving grooves where they burned. "Shhh, it's okay." But it wasn't, and it never would be.

* * *

Vetis knew when Adrienne came back.

The air grew heavier, like a storm building up. He debated for a minute about whether or not to go see, sighing in defeat when he realized the he would even if he didn't want to.

He opened her door as quietly as he could, wary of provoking her. Adrienne was still wearing her outfit from earlier, completely with dirt and blood stains, though any injuries she might have had were gone. She was staring out of a window, spelled to look like it opened to a sunny beach, with pure white sand and crystal water. As soon as he closed the door, Adrienne forced the picture to change, showing an image of Hell, filled with an ugly vomit-green and black chains and screaming. She stared at this too for a few seconds before pulling the thick black curtains shut.

They stood there for several minutes, neither moving, before Vetis asked, "Are you alright?"

Adrienne looked at him then, brown eyes dim and wet. "Am I alright?" She chuckled humorlessly. "Yes, I'm alright." She walked over to him, not looking at his face when she began unbuttoning his shirt.

Startled, Vetis grabbed her wrists. "Adrienne, what are you doing?"

She blinked owlishly. She looked almost dazed, like she wasn't quite thinking straight. "Unbuttoning your shirt." She pulled her arms from him, returning to her task. Vetis stopped her again.

"Adrienne, you don't want to do this." He purposefully made himself sound rude, hoping to snap her out of the weird daze she was in.

It didn't work. Adrienne was practically shaking now, and though her eyes were dry, they were also red-rimmed from crying. "Vetis, please," her voice trembled, "I need you now." She gently pushed him back, maneuvering him to the bed. Reluctant, he sat down.

Adrienne undid his buttons, pulling it off of his arms and leaving it on the floor. His undershirt followed. She pushed at his leg to get him to undo his pants and shoes and pull them off while she began taking off her own clothes. When they were done, Adrienne ran her hand over his chest, grabbing hold of his shoulder to push him down. Vetis moved further up the bed, resting against the pillows. Adrienne crawled on top of him, straddling his hips. Vetis sat up, pushing her down on the bed and moving over her. Adrienne held onto his shoulders as he moved in her, slowly pulling him closer until his face was hidden in the crook of her neck, her grip punishing against the back of his head. After a few minutes, he felt hot tears slide down his cheek. "Don't leave me." Adrienne's voice was quiet, and cracked halfway through. "Please don't leave me."

"I won't," he promised. "I'll never leave you. I _can't_ leave you."

Vetis unraveled above her, steaming tears falling from his eyes onto the sheets. His arms caged her in, lowering him so that there was no space between them. His hands formed fists in the sheets, letting them go after the precipice of release hit.

Vetis held her for nearly an hour before she was asleep. He crawled out of the bed, making soothing sounds when she stirred. Certain that she would not wake up, he left.


	17. Part Two — Chapter Seven

Part Two: Light

Chapter Seven: Save Her

* * *

 _You had never known fear._

 _You knew only the taste of blood;_  
 _Of battle and of victory._  
 _You knew the violence of storms,_  
 _For it was in your hearts._  
 _You knew the ferocity of earthquakes,_  
 _For it was in your fists._  
 _You knew the rage of volcanoes,_  
 _For it was in your veins._

 _You did not walk the paths carved by man;_  
 _You broke the spines of mountains,_  
 _Tour the tendons of the oceans,_  
 _Made them bow and move for you._

 _And then you met her._

 _Then you were the one bowing, moving;_  
 _The clouds of your heart parted, the storm calmed,_  
 _And your hands were gentle wherever they touched._  
 _And all that you had conquered_  
 _Meant nothing to you without her._

 _Now you know what fear is._

 _You had only ever gained._  
 _You took because you could;_  
 _And all that you had,_  
 _Nothing could take from you,_  
 _And nothing could be taken._  
 _Now the one thing you did not take_  
 _Is the one thing you cannot bear to lose._

 _And you realized how truly terrified_  
 _You are capable of being._

* * *

 _May 5th, 2011_

Vetis spread the cream-colored map over the table, holding the corners down with four lit candles. Lighting a match, he whispered a few words in Enochian along with the names of the people he wanted to find, and dropped the match. The fire burned through the map, leaving black ash in its place. He cursed when he saw that there was nothing left, though it wasn't a surprise. He could hardly expect Castiel to have left them without protection. But, contrary to popular belief, Castiel did not know everything. So Vetis reworked the spell, this time using older magic to try to find the place in America that Castiel had most recently been, mainly by drawing the younger angel's sigil on the map with his own blood.

In his mind, front and center when usually it was so subtle, Vetis heard his brother shouting at him. _Stop! We're too close; you can't do this!_

 _Vetis_ lit the match.

 _Stop! Brother, STOP!_

He dropped the match, forcibly slamming the voice out of his mind. _Shut up, Lucifer._

Soon there was only a small rectangle left with the words _South Dakota_ in slanted script. He summoned a new map of the state, and repeated the process.

 _Sioux Falls._

* * *

Dean was getting antsy.

After what had happened to Sachiel, Cas had forbid them to go on anymore hunts. That went about as well as one would expect. Dean still refused to talk to him, much to Sam's annoyance as he was now forced to serve as Dean and Castiel's middleman, delivering messages to and from each of them. It didn't take long before he flat out refused to keep doing it, hoping that it would force the two to talk to each other. Instead, Castiel was using the angels guarding the brothers to send them important messages, which only served to piss Dean off more.

Yesterday, one of the angels told them about a priest in Adrienne's hometown that went insane two days ago and started killing people, soon being blamed for the Morgenstern's disappearance. Now they were all but confined to Bobby's house, with angels guarding the property 24/7.

Which was why it was kind of terrifying to see flashing white lights out the window.

Sam called for his brother and Bobby, and together the three of them looked outside the window to the front yard. They couldn't see anyone, but that didn't necessarily mean that no one was there.

"Do you think it's Adrienne?" Sam asked.

"Do you think it's not?" Bobby replied.

"Yeah, good point." A beat passed. "Well it's not like they can get in anyway. Cas warded the house."

Before either of them could reply, they heard several high-pitched beeping sounds. After a brief moment, Dean asked, "Is that the smoke alarm?"

It felt pointless to answer that when smoke started to fill the room. Within minutes, they were forced to either leave the house or face death by smoke inhalation, and holy shit, that should be an easier decision.

They tried to stick to the porch, but it didn't matter. Vetis knew the moment they left the building, and was in the yard to greet them. His smile was absolutely cheery, which was even weirder paired with his red eyes and general creepy aura.

"Hello, boys!"

Dean had grabbed an angel blade before going outside. Now Vetis forced it over, leaving them more defenseless than they'd been before. Dean sent a prayer to Cas, but knew it was probably useless. There was no way Vetis would come here without making sure no other angel could.

"What do you want?" Dean felt ridiculous asking, but he couldn't stand to just stand there and wait to die.

"I'm so glad you asked Dean." Vetis walked while he talked. Dean felt like a helpless rabbit being stalked by a wolf, stuck between the instinct to run (which would get him killed instantly) and just standing there and hoping it was a quick death.

"I want to make a deal."

Dean was still bracing himself for lightning to strike him when he realized what the fallen angel had said. Being the incredibly clever and witty man that he was, he asked, "What?"

Vetis chuckled. "Always so eloquent Dean." He stops smiling, looking so serious that it makes Dean more uncomfortable than his smiling did. "Tomorrow, Adrienne is going to complete the spell to raise Lucifer. I want you to stop it."

None of them really knew how to respond to that. Finally Dean said, "Bullshit." Sam looked at his brother as though to say 'Shut up!', but Dean kept going. "You've been waiting for a chance to bring Lucifer back since the day you fell. Somehow, I don't see you giving that up."

"It doesn't matter why I want you to stop her; all that matters is that you do."

"It matters because we have no reason to trust you. For all we know you're trying to lead us into some sort of trap to kill us and Cas." Really, it was the only thing that made sense. He probably came to kill them, realized Cas wasn't here, and was luring them into a trap to get rid of them all at once. And as angry as Dean was with the angel, he'd die before he let Vetis anywhere near him.

Vetis looked angry, but there was something more to it. Dean realized he was nervous, saw it in the way his hand twitched, all the more noticeable as angels were usually completely still if they weren't walking or fighting. Dean filed the information away for later, unsure if it was important or not.

Vetis's eyes flicked from one man to the other before they landed on Dean again. He realized he had no other options, and bit the bullet. "Adrienne will die if she does the ritual."

Well that was shocking.

A beat passed before Dean asked, "Sounds like the sort of thing you might want to tell her."

"No. She can't know. She doesn't know, and she's never going to know."

Dean stared at him, surprise and disgust slowly marring his features. "So this is what I'm hearing: You found out that Adrienne was going to die trying to raise Lucifer, and instead of telling her, or even just convincing her not to do it, you decided it would be easier to sic us on her, and then her on us."

Sam shook his head, joining his brother in his suicidal quest to find out what the hell was going on. "No, it's more than that. This isn't something he's just found out; you've known about this, haven't you?"

Vetis said nothing.

Sam continued. "The obvious answer would be to just let her do it anyway. The Antichrist isn't the endgame, the devil is. And for a while, that's what you did. But something changed, and now you can't let that happen. So the question is, what changed?"

"That doesn't matter."

The angel had appeared behind his brother, his expression as cold and stony as ever. He had panicked when he realized the angels stationed at Bobby's house were gone, but now he was careful not to show how tired he was from disarming the wards, or how scared he was for the boys' lives. But despite how tiring the wards had been, he worried at how easy it had been to disable them (or at least not as hard as it could have been).

Castiel's gaze briefly flicked to the boys and Bobby to see that they were all right before returning to Vetis. There was an angel blade in his hand. He was stiff, ready to attack at the first sign of danger. Vetis rolled his eyes when he saw the weapon. "Oh, come on brother. How stupid do you think I am?"

An identical blade slid into Vetis's hand. The angels stared at each other, each trying to decide whether or not to make the first move before Vetis settled their silent argument by throwing his dagger at the angel. The blade embedded itself in Castiel's shoulder. Castiel threw his own a moment too late, and Vetis dodged it, teleporting to his brother's side. Vetis grabbed Castiel's neck, forcing him to stand still while he quickly fastened a glowing white collar around his neck.

By now, the men had snapped out of their shock and were running towards the angels, but it was too late. Vetis had disappeared, Castiel with him, leaving a small note on the ground. Dean picked his up, eyes scanning it several times before his mind had cleared enough to read it.

 _Go to Stull Cemetery tomorrow at noon and disrupt the ritual._

Dean reread the note several times until Sam wrenched it from him. When Dean finally came back to himself, he shouted, "Son of a bitch!"

* * *

Castiel wasn't sure where they were. He was certain they were on Earth, and it seemed to be a mountain. There was no wildlife, no plants or water. They were surrounded by dull gray stone that Vetis had painstakingly carved over a dozen sets of enochian sigils to ward off any angels - and Adrienne.

The collar was still around his neck, and attached to it was a chain connected to a pillar made of the same white material as the collar and angel blades. His wrists had been cuffed and chained to similar pillars in two different directions, stretching his arms so tightly he could barely move them.

Vetis secured a matching pair of cuffs to his brothers ankles. It was when he began fixing the second one that Castiel found he could no longer abstain from saying anything. "You're a hypocrite."

Vetis looked up at him, eyes glowing red. "Excuse me?"

In his usual monotone voice, Castiel explained, "You mock me for my commitment to protecting Sam and Dean, but here you are, doing everything you can to protect a woman who's half-human woman you were willing to let die only yesterday."

Vetis straightened, eyes hard as he backhanded the blue-eyed angel. "The Winchesters are pests, no better than rats. Adrienne is a goddess." He left without saying anything else.

* * *

Vetis slipped into Adrienne's bed, curling his arms around her still form. She didn't stay still, twisting around to look at him almost as soon as he got in.

Adrienne blinked wearily, but didn't seemed surprised or upset, so he counted it as a win. "What's going on?"

"Nothing," he says reassuringly, "I just had to handle a few things. You can go back to sleep."

Adrienne's eyes were white, and though they weren't glowing, there was still that sense of other to her, and his own eyes turned red in response. In a weird way, they match, and he smiles, brushing his hand over the side of her face before gently kissing her on the forehead, nose, and lips. "I love you."

Adrienne pulls back a bit, staring at him in shock. Then she smiles, kissing him softly on the lips. "I love you too." Adrienne grinned, kissing him once more before yawning and going back to sleep. Vetis chuckled, curling his arms around her, only allowing his face to fall when he was sure she couldn't see. And for the first time in thousands of years, he prayed.

* * *

The poem from the beginning is "Some Lessons Come Too Late" by dvoyd on tumblr.


	18. Part Two — Chapter Eight

Part Two: Light

Chapter Eight: Sacrifice

* * *

 _From the ashes she rose anew,_  
 _Like a phoenix; wings spread wide._  
 _All she knew was how to burn,_  
 _And so she burned alive._

* * *

 _May 6th, 2011_

Adrienne was careful not to let go of the paintbrush as she slid it over her arm, making precise, bloody sigils on the skin. Her face was emotionless, her usually bright eyes scarily dull, occasionally checking how it looked in the mirror. Vetis felt the urge to squirm as he watched her, disturbed by how utterly uncaring she looked.

Adrienne finished with her left arm and switched hands. Knowing she would have difficulty using her left hand, he asked, "Do you want me to do it for you?"

Adrienne blinked dully at him. "All right." She passed him the brush and held out her arm. He held onto it with one hand, furrowing his brows in concentration. "Do you know what to do?"

"Same as the other arm, right?" Adrienne nodded, and he began painting, copying the sigils from her left arm. The demon blood dried almost instantly, looking more like tattoos then paint.

The sigils said, in Enochian, _May the Morning Star shine bright in the sky again on this Day of Reckoning, and may the Sun cower in fear as the Darkness ascends to take its place_.

Adrienne watched him silently, soon asking him, "Do we have the human sacrifices?"

Vetis nodded, never lifting his gaze. "Yes, Meg handled that."

"What about the demons?"

"We have all the volunteers. Everyone's just waiting for you."

Adrienne nodded her assent. She slowly started to lose her carefully practiced calm, gnawing on her lip as uncertainty ate at her. By the time Vetis had finished, she couldn't hold it in anymore. "Are we going to be okay?"

Vetis frowned up at her. "What do you mean?"

"When Lucifer comes, when he's here… it'll be alright, yeah? Everything will be okay?"

Vetis rose, letting his hands rest on her shoulders. "Adrienne… I don't know what's going to happen. All I know is that as long as I'm around, I am going to protect you. No matter what it takes." That at least was true.

Vetis pulled Adrienne into his arms, wrapping them around her as if he could protect her in this way, the irony being that she wouldn't need protection if not for him. He almost wanted to laugh when he thought about it.

Adrienne didn't seem to notice his inner hysteria, allowing herself to be comforted by him, her body pressed against his in a way that reminded her of last night. Right now the only thing she was wearing was a thin black robe that didn't do much to help the fact that she could feel each of his muscles and smooth skin. This might not have been such a burden if Vetis had deigned to wear a shirt, but the only thing he had on was a loose pair of black cotton pants.

But more than the need to act on the building heat in the pit of her stomach, Adrienne wanted to talk to him. She was scared that she had ruined the tenuous peace they'd built, that her need for comfort on a terrible day had ruined any hope of a friendship between the most important person in her life. But she looked at him, and seeing the easy peace and happiness in his eyes, knew that they didn't need to talk about this, that she did not make a mistake, and that they would be okay.

Vetis felt it when Adrienne gripped him tighter, and instinctively responded in kind, hiding his face in her hair so that she would not be able to tell what he was thinking. Looking at her, breathing in the scent of her shampoo and perfume, he could hardly imagine a time when she had not been the most important person to him. He was filled with an almost insane urge to protect her, and was tempted to knock her out now, get rid of the things they needed for the spell, and try to figure out a half-decent lie before she came to. And though that seemed much simpler, he knew this would not work. He needed to trust that the Winchesters cared more about saving Castiel than they did about the possibility of a trap.

Finally he pulled away. "I'm going to go double-check that everything's ready. You get dressed, and I'll meet you at the cemetery." With that he pressed a kiss to her forehead and left.

* * *

Vetis and Adrienne teleported to the cemetery together. It was an almost obscenely bright day, without a single cloud in the sky. The cemetery, which Adrienne had never before been to in person, was covered in lush green grass, the gray tombstones well cared for. Over fifty demons stood in a loose circle with Adrienne and Vetis at its head. About three dozen of the demons were busy holding humans still. The humans' mouths had been duct taped shut. When Adrienne looked closely at them, she could see that sum of their wrists and ankles were badly swollen and bruised, assumingly broken, though still tied together by rope. A few of the others were holding glazed black jars, which Adrienne realized were the ingredients for the spell. Adrienne felt a brief wave of nausea knowing that Adam's heart was in one of them, but forced herself to remain calm. _This will all be over soon_.

Adrienne was wearing an inky black dress with slit sleeves that fell to the ground, a silver belt with a ten-pointed star in the center and several smaller, six-pointed ones engraved into the metal on each side. The blood had sunk fully into her skin by now, turning black within minutes.

Vetis pulled Adrienne to him, brushing his lips against her ear as he spoke. "Move away from the circle as soon as possible once you're done, or else you won't be able to avoid Michael and Lucifer when they come through." He pushed her away gently and handed her the jar with Adam's heart. Adrienne remained carefully emotionless, gently lifting the heart from the glass vessel and carrying it to the middle of the circle. It was darker than she remembered it, more burgundy than the fresh pink and vibrant red that it had been when she killed Adam. It also felt heavier than it had before, and grew more so with every step she took until it felt more like a ten pound rock than a heart.

The part of the ground in that the demons surrounded was dirt, with not a single strand of grass. As Adrienne walked towards it, she became aware of a dull humming in the back of her head that grew steadily louder until it was like someone was banging a drum in her mind. She ignored this as well as she could, and pressed a hand to the dirt, sensing rather than seeing the hole where her father had fallen through, shaking away a shudder when she heard his and Michael's screams. Vetis passed her a dagger. Adrienne held it still in her hand, staring at it without taking in any details, before using it to carefully trace sigils into the dirt. _Open. Hold. Stay. Lucifer. Rise._ The sigils turned red and hard as metal, cold and unmoving.

Numbly, Adrienne stabbed the heart. The first time, it dulled the blood, like stabbing a stone, and it only made a shallow cut into the top layer of the flesh. Undeterred, Adrienne stabbed the organ nine more times, each strike seeming to hit deeper than the last, slowly spilling the burgundy blood, coating the dirt with it.

When Adrienne was done, Vetis tapped on her shoulder, handing her the jar with the soul. This was easier to handle than the heart had been, though she thought of Thompson when she took it. Adrienne removed the lid from the jar, and the soul flew out, jetting from place to place in the air like a bug, but Adrienne snatched it out of the air, clenching her fist around it until it stopped moving. She drew it to the ground, anchoring it in the dirt and blood. It stopped moving, and Adrienne felt a sad twinge in her chest. It was almost as though the thing had lost its spirit.

Finally Adrienne uncorked the vial of grace, pouring it onto the ground, making the blood and dirt glow white-blue. She felt a bit stupid now for letting Sachiel go, but it didn't matter anymore. Once Lucifer razed the earth, the angel would die, human or not.

While Adrienne thought about this, Vetis checked his watch, seeing that it was noon. He frowned. They should be here. Where were they?

He considered stalling - maybe try to convince Adrienne that something was wrong - but there was no time for that. Adrienne was already looking at him strangely, and he reluctantly backed out of the circle. _Well at least Lucifer will kill me before I have to see Adrienne dead_. It was not a particularly comforting thought, but it was all he had.

Once Vetis had left, Adrienne began the spell. Her mouth shaped the blunt language of Enochian.

The first part of the spell was more like a retelling. Adrienne began with how Lucifer fell.

 _God created the angels, he created Heaven, he created the Light-Bringer, and all was good. But God created the humans, and he ordered the angels to bow to them as they bowed to him. But Lucifer refused to bow._

As Adrienne spoke, her eyes began to glow white, and she seemed to lose herself in the words, and looked like she was in a trance.

 _"The Light-Bringer said to his father, 'Why should I bow? The humans are as animals - worse, for they kill their own out of pettiness and anger. I will not bow to them.'_

 _"God raged at his son's so-called pride, and banished him and his followers to the boughs of Hell. And there they stayed for thousands of years as humanity grew more corrupted. No more. On this Day of Reckoning the Morning Star shall shine bright in the sky again, as the Darkness drowns the Sun."_

Now Adrienne was looking up at the sky, as though to challenge God. With her glowing eyes and angry expression, it would be easy to believe that she was an avenging goddess, challenging the man that had destroyed her life.

"I am Lucifer's daughter! I am the Antichrist, and I demand that he be released from his prison!" As Adrienne shouted, the marks along her arms began to burn white, and blood flowed from them like rivers, and it poured from her eyes, dirtying her dress and belt until it fell to the ground, landing on Adam's heart.

Vetis forced his eyes from her when he heard muffled screams. He looked around, and realized it was the humans, yelling as their blood was pulled from their veins, and through their skin, forming a thin circle on the ground as the people collapsed. A beat passed, and the majority of the demons joined them on the ground, leaving less than ten standing.

The blood in the circle began to streak towards the middle, easily reaching where Adrienne was standing. Adrienne was still chanting, but Vetis could tell that she was becoming tired. Already she looked paler, and she wobbled a bit when she spoke, like she might fall over. But the ground was glowing now, practically pulsing, and Vetis trembled as he began to feel Lucifer's power, and now he was wishing that he had told Adrienne, then they could have stopped this, it was his fault, and everything was going to Hell because of him -

Shots rang out. Adrienne's voice broke off with a dignified yelp as she fell, barely catching herself on her hands before she landed face down in the bloody dirt. She turned to look at her attack at the same time Vetis did, although she looked far more angry than he was. With her eyes and the marks on her arms glowing combined with the snarl on her face, it wasn't hard to imagine her spontaneously combusting.

Vetis could tell that she wanted to kill them herself, but then she couldn't do that - not yet. "Keep doing the spell!" Adrienne glanced at him briefly. She looked like she might argue, but noticed the sigils on the ground were dimming, and nodded her head before resuming her chanting.

What demons were left converged on the humans. While they and Adrienne were distracted, Vetis quickly killed the closest of the demons with his angel blade, leaving only eight to fight the Winchesters. Moving quickly, he cut Dean off from the other two and started fighting him, though he went easy enough that the human could keep up. The others were too distracted to wonder why he didn't just kill him, and it was easy to keep up the charade.

"Where's Cas?" Dean asked, ducking to avoid a hit.

"Don't worry about that, Winchester. You'll see your angel soon. For now, just do what I say."

He told Dean to walk up close behind Adrienne, but not so close that she would realize he were there. Just close enough that he could plausibly knock her unconscious. After that, he would use the demon-killing knife to destroy the glowing red sigils in the dirt. Suspicious, but not willing to disobey the man who held Cas's life in the balance, Dean did as he said.

As he did that, Vetis made it so that the humans and demons couldn't see him and approached Adrienne from behind, careful not to let her see him. Once Dean was close enough, Vetis knocked her unconscious, catching her in his arms, and then they were gone.

* * *

Dean raged at the sky for five minutes, demanding Vetis come back with Cas, but to no avail. Defeated, they left the cemetery and drove into the night to reach Bobby's house. They dragged themselves into the house, bone-tired after such an awful day. Dean went upstairs to the guest room while Sam settled down on the couch, thinking nothing could possibly make the day any worse, only to jump up a minute later when he heard his brother yelling.

Sam ran upstairs and threw the door open, stopping dead in his tracks at what he saw. Castiel was sitting on the bed, staring at his lap and rubbing at where cuffs had chafed his wrists. On the nightstand was a small notecard that said, ' _I keep my promises_.' Dean was staring stunned at him from right inside the doorway. "Cas."

Castiel looked at his charge, finally letting out a breath of relief when he saw him. Before, he almost couldn't believe that Vetis had let him go, thinking that it might be some sort of trap, a cruel trick from an old enemy. He knew that was still a possibility, but but he couldn't believe it. Not when Dean looked at him like that, like the universe had finally stopped fucking them over and now they could all take a break. "Dean."

The two stared at each other, and the air between them seemed to change. Dean strode forward, grabbed Cas's face, and kissed him.

As Castiel responded in kind, Sam slowly backed out of the room, mentally preparing himself for a night of pretending he couldn't hear what was happening upstairs.

* * *

Adrienne woke up to the feeling of a warm wet washcloth against her cheek. She opened her eyes, and saw Vetis wringing the washcloth out, pink-tinged water falling out. He looked back to her. "You're awake."

Adrienne groaned. "Yeah, I noticed." She turned her head, wincing at the pounding pain she felt reverberate throughout her body with every movement. That didn't stop her from trying to sit up when she saw the black marks burnt into her arms, although the shock didn't exactly stop the pain.

Vetis sighed when he saw where her gaze was pointed. "I tried healing those, but it didn't work. I think they're going to have to stay."

Adrienne carefully touched one of the marks, and hissed in pain. Hopefully that would stop sooner rather than later.

But Adrienne didn't care about that right now. "What happened?"

Vetis's gaze darkened, his eyes turning red in anger. "Dean Winchester knocked you unconscious. I would have stopped him, but Castiel appeared, and by the time I got away from him, it was too late. Now the spell can't be done for another thousand years."

For a moment, Adrienne didn't know how she felt. Then the anger crashed over her, like a tsunami on a city. It was a hot feeling, like fire had filled her every cell. But worse was the grief. The grief felt like her blood had been replaced by ice water. Tears stung her eyes, the pain all the worse for the way they'd bled earlier. She wanted to bring down the whole building, but she was too tired to even summon a tissue. Instead she collapsed in on herself, forcing her head down, covering it with her arms, so that Vetis could not see how pathetic she looked. Like a child unable to control even the simplest of emotions.

Vetis moved to the bed, carefully pulling Adrienne into his arms. He rubbed his hand up and down her back in an effort to comfort her, but it didn't work.

 _All of it - every single death and drop of blood - was for nothing. Thompson, Adam, the humans and demons - all of it was a waste._

"What do we do?" Her voice was small and cracked twice.

Vetis didn't say anything.

* * *

End of Part Two


	19. Part Three — Chapter One

Part Three: Morning Star

Chapter One: I Will Take What Is Mine

* * *

 _"How did you survive?" they ask._  
 _How much did they have you bleed;_  
 _How long did they make you suffer;_  
 _How low did they force you down;_  
 _How dark did they tint your dreams?_  
 _—until you had their blood glistening on your teeth;_  
 _—until your suffering paled in comparison to their own;_  
 _—until it was their throats pinned under your boot;_  
 _—until you learned to enjoy the sounds of screams._  
 _"I didn't." you reply._

* * *

 _May 7th, 2011 to May 11th, 2011_

For days Adrienne lay in bed, depressed and unmoving, her only interaction with the world being when Vetis came to bring her food and carry her to the bathroom. She could barely stand on her own for a week, never mind walk. On the fifth day, Vetis pulled her dress off, picked her up and placed her in the bathtub. Adrienne didn't say anything, remaining motionless when he washed her hair and scrubbed her arms.

The blood was gone now, but the marks were still there, blatantly obvious against her skin, paler now than it was before, though still brown. He scrubbed them, tried a spell, drew sigils with his own blood, even put some burn cream on, but nothing worked.

"I don't think these are going to heal," he told her.

Adrienne didn't say anything.

* * *

 _May 14th, 2011_

Adrienne took a few small, hesitant steps forward, leaning on the shoulder of a brainwashed physical therapist while a nurse held her opposite arm. Vetis watched from the side of the room with Meg. Vetis's face was expressionless, but Meg looked worried.

"Do you think she's gonna be okay?" Meg asked.

Adrienne stumbled, landing on her ankle. Two weeks ago she might have cursed in pain, but now she didn't say anything. Her eyes looked like shattered glass. She stayed sat down on the ground there until urged to stand up by the doctor.

Vetis tried to hold it together, but he knew that anyone looking could see how upset he was. "I don't know."

* * *

 _May 20th, 2011_

Vetis could remember, upon first meeting Adrienne as an adult, as being somewhat annoyed with her. He'd never admit it of course, and was very careful to always be respectful of Lucifer's daughter. But the girl didn't know _anything_ , and he soon grew annoyed with listening to her constant barrage of questions. Now, as he lay in their bed with Adrienne, his arms wrapped around her middle, he thought of what he'd give to hear her speak again.

The first night, he'd just put her in bed and made to leave, but she'd grabbed his wrist and pulled him back in. He'd sunk in beside her, kissing her forehead. He'd hoped it was a sign that maybe she would be okay sooner rather than later, but now they were in the same position, Adrienne's head tucked under his chin, her hair tickling his arms, and she was no better. They stayed like this through the night, Adrienne eerily silent, only the sound of her heart to keep him company.

But earlier that day, Vetis had to deal some revolting demons; the beasts were not so easily kept in line when they learned of Adrienne's failure. The fact that she hadn't been seen in days probably hadn't helped.

Usually demons were too weak to hurt him, but the sheer number of them that day had been overwhelming. When he took his shirt off to get ready for bed, he saw that his chest was covered in ugly purple bruises. He's surprised Adrienne even notices, to be honest. Half the time it was like she was already dead. The other half, she seemed to be waiting for death.

But she did notice.

Adrienne stood, stopping his hand when he started to put a new shirt on. She pulled the shirt away from him, letting it fall to the ground before spreading one of her own hands over his heart where the bruises were the worst. Without speaking a word, she healed the bruises, warmth sinking into his chest. He's not sure what to say, but it doesn't really matter since two seconds later she falls forward. He catches her on instinct and lays her down on the bed. Her eyes are only barely visible through her eyelids.

Vetis shouted for her a few times, but she didn't respond, if she even heard him.

"Adrienne!"

* * *

 _May 27th, 2011._

Vetis snaps.

When it happens, Adrienne's sitting in her window nook, surrounded by pillows, staring out past the glass, switching the image from Hell and the a beach in the Bahamas and back again.

Vetis felt guilty, but he couldn't help it. The silence was deafening. Watching Adrienne every day was hellish. He wanted to shake her, dump a bucket of water over her head, anything if she would just _talk_.

His arms itch with the need to throw something, and he grabs what's closest. That turns out to be a chair, and it explodes into dust and splinters when it lands against the wall. Adrienne flinched, turning to stare at him in confusion and shock. He could easily imagine what she would have done before. She'd have asked him what was wrong, or, if she was in a bad mood, what the hell was wrong with him. But now she was silent.

"Dammit, Adrienne! Why do you just sit there? Get up, do something! I'm tired of seeing you just sit on your ass and mope! God, it's like you'd rather be dead!"

Vetis kept yelling. Soon, Adrienne stopped looking emotionless (not that Vetis noticed). Now she was angry. For the first time in weeks, her eyes were focused.

Eventually, Vetis stopped. Breathing hard, he finally looked at Adrienne again. What he saw was nearly enough to make him leave with his tail between his legs. Adrienne's eyes were white hot... and so were the marks on her arms.

And finally, he got his wish. Adrienne spoke.

"Get. _Out_."

* * *

 _May 31st, 2011_

Vetis did not speak to Adrienne for several days. He tried going to her a few times, but her rooms were blocked to him and the door never budged. He busied himself with running Hell, but he dreaded the second Adrienne summoned him. He was certain she would kill him the instant she saw him. Still, he wanted to go to her, wanted to apologize for his words. Not to protect himself, but because it was true. He did regret what he said, and he wanted her to know it.

He stood next to Adrienne's throne as he dealt out orders to demons. That's when he felt it. A presence, wriggling in the back of his mind, forcing its way to the front.

For a moment, Vetis thought Lucifer was trying to speak to him, which would _not_ be good. But then the presence spoke to him, and he recognized Adrienne's voice immediately (he wasn't entirely sure which was worse).

 _Come here_.

His heart jumped into his throat. He left the throne room, ignoring the questions and protests of the demons. This time, the door opened easily.

Adrienne stood staring out the window, staring at Hell. The nook was gone. The room looked more bare than ever now. There were no decorations, and the furniture and bed sheets were plain black. On the other hand, Adrienne's floor length dress was black and elegant. The silver belt at her waist looked like interconnecting bones, with a ten-pointed star at the center. Her hair was wavy and lush, falling past her shoulders and down her back. Two gauzy straps held up each side of her dress, revealing the marks on her sleeves. She wasn't wearing shoes or jewelry. All of this contrasted sharply with the black burns on her arms, which were as rough and jagged as ever.

Adrienne turned to look at him. Her eyes weren't brown anymore. They were shiny white, like pearls. It made the black of her pupils stand out more than ever, like tiny coals. He took a step back when he saw them, suddenly more scared of her than he'd ever been, but she made no move to hurt face betrayed no emotion. Even her movements were eerie — silent and fluid, like water. Or smoke.

"Vetis."

He expected her voice to be harsh, angry. But it was practically monotone. No feeling, no love or hate, no warmth or coldness. Vetis wanted to apologize, but stopped himself. Adrienne clearly wanted to say something, and he didn't dare interrupt her.

"How long have you known me?"

Vetis blinked. "I've known you since the day you were born. Hell, I was there when you _were_ born."

"And everyone else who knew me — Lorelei, my parents, Adam — are gone. You're the only one left. The only one who understands me."

After a beat, Vetis realized she expected a response. "Yes."

For a moment, Adrienne allowed a sliver of emotion through her mask — a small bit of warmth in her white eyes. "And you'll stand by me? You'll do whatever I ask of you, no matter what happens?"

"Always. But what do you want me to do?"

Adrienne stopped looking at him, instead staring into the space behind him, deep in thought. "I underestimated the Winchesters. That was my fault, no one else's. It's my job to fix it, to kill them before they can stop us."

Vetis tried not to show his confusion, but he wasn't sure it worked. "What are we going to do?"

Now she focused on him, her face a blank slate. "Humanity can't be wiped out. Not by me, not alone. The only way to fix it is to take complete control of everything — Hell, Heaven, Earth."

Vetis caught his breath. The way Adrienne spoke was enticing. He almost felt like he was in a trance. "How are we going to do that?"

She smiled. "We're going to open the gates of Hell."

* * *

A/N: The poem at the beginning is "to defeat monsters: become the greater monster" by dvoyd on tumblr. Also, I'm sorry that it's been such a long time since I've updated, but I haven't had the time or energy since school started, and probably won't be updating again for awhile, but I _do_ plan on finishing this, so stay tuned.


	20. Part Three — Chapter Two

Part Three: Morning Star

Chapter Two: Monsters

* * *

 _I don't intend to wage war._  
 _Wars are fought by warriors._

 _Massacres, though—_  
 _those are fought by monsters._

* * *

 _June 1st, 2011_

Vetis and Adrienne poured over a map, trying to decide where the Devils's Gates were most likely to be. Using a black sharpie, Vetis marked a point on the map in southern Wyoming. "There's definitely one here. I remember Azazel opened it in 2007 to free Lilith." Taking a red sharpie, he marked four different points. "And it's generally believed that there's one at each of the poles, as well as at least two points on the equator. Apart from that, they could be..." Vetis trailed off, not sure what to say.

Adrienne lifted an eyebrow at him. " _They could be_ …?"

"Well, anywhere really. All we really know is that Azazel opened one in Wyoming, and a few places where they're likely, or believed to be, but they could be literally be anywhere on earth."

"So what you're saying is, we're screwed?"

Vetis shrugged weakly. "Not necessarily. There's probably one in L.A. for example—"

"Probably."

"—and I would know for certain if I were within about a tenth of a mile of one."

"Well that's super helpful," Adrienne said dryly. "Do we at least know _how many_ there are?"

Vetis thought about it for a moment. "Four? Ten? Twenty? A hundred?"

"A thousand, ten thousand, fifty billion?"

"...I know you're being sarcastic, but that's actually possible. It's not likely, but it's definitely a possibility."

Adrienne's hand twitched. She closed her eyes, taking in a few long breaths, and opened them. Vetis was startled by her white eyes that seemed to reflect a rainbow of colors now, red the most prominent, brown nonexistent. The first time he'd seen them yesterday, but he doubted he'd ever get used to them. They weren't the same as her pure white eyes, which came from the angel in her and showed her power, or her old brown ones, which were warm and laughing. For all their beauty, these were cold and foreign, and he was scared every time he saw them again. He wondered if something had died in her that day at Stull Cemetery, something that could never be brought back, and if he should have let her die then.

He resisted the urge to shake his head as he thought, _No_. He'd done the right thing, saving her — the only thing he could have done. It was just those eyes that were making him doubt her, nothing else. He would just have to get used to them.

Adrienne sighed in frustration. Drawing her hands over her face, she tried to focus on the positive. "Well, at least we know how to open the gates."

Vetis sat in silence.

Adrienne looked at the angel, and immediately noticed the nervous look on his face. "We _do_ know how to open the gates, right?"

"...To be fair, this was your idea."

In hindsight, that was a pretty stupid thing to say.

Adrienne growled, her eyes glowing white. "Are you _kidding me_?!"

Vetis tried (and failed) not to cower. "I really wish I was, but the fact is that only those in Lucifer's innermost circle were ever told about those things. People like Azazel and Lilith." After a moment, he added, "Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure they were the _only_ ones who knew anything about it."

Adrienne made an irritated noise, and threw her hands up in the air. For a moment, gold sparks flew from them. Luckily, Adrienne got them under control after a moment, closing her hand into a fist and counting backwards from a thousand. After a few seconds, she calmed down enough to open her eyes, and they were plain white and black again (though Vetis wasn't sure that that was an improvement).

"Okay," she said, breathing carefully controlling her breathing, "How do we find out how to open the gates?"

Vetis thought about it for a minute. "The only thing I can think of is the Demon Tablet." At the sight of her confused look, he explained, "Before God left, he wrote a set of tablets for different beings — angels, leviathans, demons. The demons tablet would tell us how to completely open and shut the gates at will. In fact, we could probably use the angel tablet to open the gates of heaven."

Adrienne studied his expression, and while he did seem to be telling the truth, there was a note of hesitation in his voice. "Why am I sensing a 'but' coming up?"

Vetis sighed. "No one knows exactly where the tablets are, just that they're being kept underground somewhere. I've tried to track them before using magic, but to no avail." He almost didn't tell her the next part, but knew it couldn't be avoided. "And they can only be read by a prophet of the Lord."

Adrienne perked up the tiniest bit at that. "Well that's good at least. We already have a prophet, we can make him translate it. What's his name again? Kyle? Devin?"

"Kevin," he said reluctantly. He was half tempted to go and kill the boy now — God knows having the threat of him telling Adrienne everything had already felt like having an axe ready to cut his head off at any moment — but it was better to keep the boy close and under his control than take the risk of not being able to find the next prophet. Or worse — risk Adrienne's wrath.

"Perfect. Now we just have ten million things to do instead of twenty. I feel so much better." Adrienne studied the maps again. "Alright, sticking to what we actually _do_ know. Could we just re-open the gate in Wyoming?"

Vetis shook his head. "No. The only one who knew how to open that was Azazel, and the Winchesters killed him a while ago."

Adrienne's eyebrows scrunched together in concentration. "Well, can't we just summon his spirit? We did that before with my dad."

Vetis was surprised to hear her mention Josef so casually, but decided not to mention it. "That doesn't work with angels and demons. We don't have souls to summon."

Adrienne frowned. "Then what happens to them when they die?"

Vetis thought about it for a moment before admitting, "I don't know. As far as I can tell we just sort of...cease to exist."

Vetis turned his attention back to the map, but Adrienne sat staring at him in horror.

Vetis continued talking. "We're definitely going to want to at least try to find one in America. Preferably near a big city so that the demons will be able to infect plenty of people."

When Adrienne didn't respond, he looked up, frowning when he saw her look of shock and fear. "What's wrong?"

"I...I just can't imagine it. That one minute you're here, and then the next, you just...stop." Honestly, that sounded worse than Hell, at least to her. Hell was horrific, but at some point it ended, and you became a demon. But to be completely erased from existence, like you were never there at all was something she couldn't even imagine.

Adrienne realized almost before she'd stopped talking that this was what would happen to Vetis if he ever died, and the thought was more than she could handle. Her skin paled and gripped the table as she imagined Vetis lying cold and unmoving on the floor, the life completely drained from his brown eyes.

Vetis wanted to shrug it off, assure her that next to Hell, nothing was pretty good. But he could tell that it would only make her feel worse. So, he did the next best thing. He walked over to her, kneeling down next to her chair, and enveloped her in his arms so that her face was pressed into his shoulder.

"Don't think about that. I'm here, and nothing is going to take me from you."

Adrienne forced back the tears that fought to escape, trying to smile. It didn't work. "Nothing but death."

"I'd like to see him try." He smiled, and his face lit up as he brushed the hair back from her face. "Why don't we try to work on finding the gates, yeah?"

Adrienne agreed to return to work, but without the release of a good cry, she was too wound-up to concentrate, and her irritation overcame her before an hour had passed.

Snapping suddenly, she grabbed her map and threw it off the table. Then when it wouldn't fall neatly, she lit it on fire, and ashes covered the floor in an instant. "Ugh, there's too _much_! How are we supposed to find even one gate if they could be literally anywhere on the planet?!" Adrienne bonelessly collapsed into her chair. "It's too much, it's just too much!"

By now, Vetis was getting pretty irritated himself, and was only a step away from from snapping at her. Still, there was venom in his tone, and though he was sure she heard it, he didn't care. "We're spread too thin. We don't have enough demons on earth to look for the tablets _and_ the gates, and we can't do it all ourselves. We need allies, we need a way to get more demons on land, or—" Vetis caught himself when he saw the look on Adrienne's face — a sly sort of smile that seemed to bring some of the life back to her eyes. "What?"

Adrienne thought about what he'd said. _Allies_. "I just had a really clever idea."

* * *

The alpha vampire walked through the dark halls of his mansion to the great hall. A month ago, something had been happening to his descendants — someone had been capturing and killing them en masse, but whoever had been doing it had stopped. Killed, most likely. Good. He hoped it was slow.

When he opened the door, he immediately wished he hadn't. He could feel the power of the the two people calmly sitting at his table. The girl was sitting at the head of the table, calmly sipping from a glass of wine. Her eyes were white with tiny black dots at the center. They were cold and utterly terrifying.

The man at her side was an angel — that much was obvious — but his grace was dim and corroded. A fallen angel then.

He tried to back out of the door, but it slammed shut behind him. The girl put her glass down and gestured to the sit across from the angel. "Sit. Please."

Reluctantly, he sat down. The angel smirked at him, his eyes red. He looked at the girl again. She was definitely part human, but there was something angelic in her — a sort of powerful hum right under the surface of her skin. Careful not to show his surprise, he remembered who she was.

"You're Adrienne," he said respectfully. "The Antichrist."

Adrienne grinned. "I'm surprised you know me."

"One hears things." He looked at the angel. "And this must be Vetis." The angel gave a sarcastic little wave that perfectly matched his smug grin. He nodded politely in return before looking back at Adrienne. "It's an honor to meet you both."

"Oh please, let's not do this," Vetis said, "I hate being polite. It's exhausting. Can't we just say why we're here and get it over with?"

Adrienne frowned at him, but the vampire stopped her before she could reprimand him. "I agree. Why are you here, if I might ask?"

Adrienne frowned for a moment before returning to her polite, easy-going smile. "We're looking for something. A few things actually, here on earth. But the problem with that is that I have so few demons topside, and I can hardly be expected to do all the work myself. I'm a busy woman, after all."

"Well that certainly sounds like a problem for you, I hardly see how it has any relation to me."

"She was getting to that," Vetis said bitingly. He wasn't smiling now, and his red eyes were glowing dimly. Adrienne placed one of her hands on top of his.

"He makes a good point Vetis. I'm not doing a very good job of making my point clear." She turned back to face him. He barely had time to steel himself to avoid flinching at her eyes. It didn't matter as she realized his fear anyways and allowed a small smile to grace her features. "I want us to make an alliance. You will order your vampires to aid me in finding these items, and when I take over the earth, I will allow you free reign to hunt humans as you wish. There will be no hunters to stop you. I think that's fair."

The vampire eyes her. "And if I refuse?"

Without missing a beat, Adrienne said, "Then I'll find, torture, and kill each and every last vampire in front of you and leave you chained up in a basement for all eternity." She shrugged, in a 'what can you do sort of way' that was all the creepier for how casual it was.

"That's not very much of a choice then, is it?"

"I felt it was incredibly generous. I'm giving you everything you ever wanted, and all I get in return are a couple of old clay blocks. Maybe I should ask for something else. A helicopter maybe."

The vampire frowned. 'Old clay blocks'? "What exactly are my people supposed to be looking for?"

"Don't worry, we'll explain it to you before we start. But first I need you to tell me something. Where can I find the other alphas?"

* * *

The poem at the beginning of this chapter is " _i'll stain your white flags red_ " by dvoyd on tumblr.


	21. Part Three — Chapter Three

Part Three: Morning Star

Chapter Three: Unholy Alliance

* * *

 _June 18th, 2011_

Dean sipped at his coffee while reading a newspaper. Already he had found half a dozen things that looked like they could be monster attacks, and he was only a quarter of the way through.

Soon Bobby came into the kitchen, looking more dour than usual.

"Hey," Dean said, but Bobby didn't respond. "Something wrong?"

Bobby slumped into the chair across from Dean. There were circles under his eyes and his face was taut with exhaustion. "I just got off the phone with Rufus. He was talking about a hunter friend of mine, Tara Gray that died last week."

Dean winced. "Damn Bobby, that sucks."

"I know." He sighed, drawing his hand over his face. "That's the fourth person I know who died in the past two weeks. It can't be a coincidence."

Dean didn't really want to ask since Bobby already looked so upset, but he couldn't let it lie. "Do you think Adrienne has anything to do with it?"

Bobby shook his head. "No. These were monster attacks. Weird thing is that they were all hunting the same things, vampires and shifters. Rufus said that Tara was pretty sure it was both."

Dean frowned. "You think monsters are working together?"

Bobby sighed in exhaustion. "God, I hope not. We have enough trouble handling one at a time. We won't survive if they decide to start tag-teaming us."

Before Dean could respond, Sam came in. "Hey." He noticed the dark looks on their faces and frowned. "What happened?"

As Dean relayed what Bobby had said to him, Sam's face grew more and more confused. Finally he asked, "Are you sure Adrienne didn't have anything to do with it?"

"I'm sure. This isn't how she kills, and even if she didn't do it herself, these aren't demon deaths."

Dean glanced at his newspaper. He'd circled eight different sections that looked like they might be a case. Usually he'd find maybe two or three, and at least one would turn out to be a bust. He passed the paper to Bobby. "Think it has anything to do with this?"

Bobby and Sam looked over the paper, their faces growing more and more disheartened as they did so. Sam sighed. "I was in such a good mood when I woke up." He looked to Bobby. "What do we do? This can't be a coincidence."

Bobby gave him a irritated look. "Oh don't worry Sam. I'll just wave my magic wand, go bippity-boppity- _boo_ , and everything will be just _peachy_!" Bobby huffed and returned to the paper.

For some reason, this seemed to reassure Sam. Dean was not as easily mollified. "Well we can't just sit around and wait for something to happen!"

"Well we also don't know what's causing this, or even what's happening."

Dean shot Sam an irritated look. "What's happening? People are _dying_ , that's what's happening!"

"Okay then, let's focus on that. Maybe if we can catch a vampire or something we can get them to tell us what's going on."

Dean scowled at the table, still upset.

"Come on Dean, it's not the end of the world."

Dean made an annoyed noise. "Great job Sam. Now the world is _definitely_ gonna end!"

* * *

Dean and Sam crept silently through the warehouse. Abandoned crates littered the ground alongside old machinery. They scanned the room for threats, soon moving onto the next. As soon as they did, they heard someone whimpering.

The boys quickly crossed the room to a small girl chained to the wall. Her loose clothes were torn, her skin coated in a layer of dirt and dust. There was a gag in her mouth. She yelled through it, tears streaming down her face. Bite marks decorated her neck.

Sam removed the gag while Dean worked on the chains.

"Please," the girl said through her sobs, "Please help me…"

Sam made a placating gesture to the girl. "Okay, can you tell us where they are?"

"They're...they're upstairs with the others." The girl grabbed Sam's hand desperately, a crazed look in her eyes. "Please, don't leave me, don't leave me with them!"

"Don't worry, we won't, okay? You're gonna be okay, I promise." Sam looked to Dean. "Go check it out, I'll stay here with her."

Dean left, taking his machete and a gun with him. Sam took the girls hands, carefully examining her wrists. They didn't look so bad, and were barely chaffed. And the bite marks were fresh, no older than a few hours. She had not been reported missing like the others, so Sam thought she'd been captured earlier in the day.

They sat in relative silence for a few moments, the only noise being the sound of her whimpers. There was a thud from outside, like something heavy had fallen. The girl whined. "What was that?"

Looking between the girl and the door, Sam said, "Stay here, I'll go see what that was."

Sam went over to the door, leaning his head out with his machete clutched safely in hand. Behind him, the girl stopped whimpering. Her body grew, her arms acquiring bulging muscle as her face changed to that of a sharp-faced man.

Sam frowned. "I don't see anythi—" The shifter wrapped its arm around Sam's throat, easily lifting him of the ground. Sam struggled uselessly against the shifter, soon reduced to scratching pathetically at its arm.

The shifter wrapped its arm tighter still. Sam gasped for breath, his vision blurring as he pulled at the arm. He couldn't think, his mind blurring as his attempts to fight back grew weaker.

Suddenly he could breathe.

Sam hungrily took in several large gulps of air, reaching up to touch his neck in relief. He allowed himself to keep his eyes closed for a few moments before realizing that he had fallen on the floor. He looked up at his saviour.

"Cas?" He winced as soon as he spoke, his throat still hurting. Cas reached down, pressing two fingers to Sam's neck. Sam sighed in relief when his throat was healed, rubbing it gently. "Thanks Cas."

Dean emerged from behind the angel to help Sam to his feet. "You alright Sammy?"

Sam nodded, still feeling his neck. He looked at Castiel in confusion. "How did you get here?"

"When Dean realized that he could not hope to defeat the two dozen monsters he found upstairs, he prayed to me for help. And I always come when Dean calls."

Sam snickered. "Yeah. I heard. Then I went to sleep in the car."

Blushing, Dean spluttered, "That's not the point! The point is there were over thirty monsters in this building, and not even half were vampires!" Before he could continue, he glanced at the ground, seeing the large man. "Wait, where'd the girl go?"

"That is the girl. It was a shifter." Sam rubbed his neck reflexively, still feeling the arm that had been there. "Are there any more monsters?"

Dean nodded. "Yeah, come on."

Cas had left a four of the monsters alive for interrogation. Dean tied one of the vampires' unconscious body to a chair while they waited for her to wake up.

The first thing she did when she was awake was wince in pain at the sunlight streaming in from the window. The second thing was to hiss at Dean, who sat a few feet in front of her.

Dean smiled cheerily. "Morning sunshine. Did you have a nice nap?"

"Go back to hell," she snapped, leaning to the side so that she was no longer in the light's path.

Dean started a retort, but Cas cut him off. "How do you know about that?"

The vampire paused, her eyebrows scrunched together in confusion. "What're you talking about?"

Dean gave Cas a confused frown, but Sam leaned forward, thinking about what little the vampire had said and soon realized what Cas meant. "How do you know Dean was in hell? Monsters don't know that. Demons, angels, other hunters, they all know. But you shouldn't."

The vampire froze, turning her head so that she didn't have to look at them.

Dean huffed irritably. He considered taking his new knife out for a test drive, but then he looked at Cas and smirked. "Hey Sam, why don't you and I leave Cas alone with our friend."

Sam looked between his brother and the angel, smiling when he realized what he meant. "That sounds like a great idea Dean!" The two of them stood up dramatically with plenty of exaggerated movements.

The monster watched as they casually strolled to the door, feeling as though her skin was heating up even though she knew it was impossible. Right as Dean opened it, she shouted, "Okay! Alright, fine, I'll tell you what I know!"

Dean smiled and dragged his chair across the room so that he was sitting a few inches away from her face. After a few moments where no one spoke, he said, "Well? What are you waiting for?"

The vampire scowled at him. When she spoke, it was through gritted teeth. "We got the message a few weeks ago."

"I'm sorry, 'we'?"

"All of us," she said irritably, "Vampires, shifters, djinns, everyone. She told us all the same things; that some of us had to start tracking down and killing hunters."

Sam frowned. It wasn't unheard of for monsters to seek out hunters to kill, but he'd never heard of them doing it en masse, or as some sort of coordinated plot. "Why?"

The vampire shrugged miserably. "Mostly it's just a distraction. Part of it's revenge. She really hates hunters. I don't know why."

"You said that _some_ of you are killing hunters? What are the others doing?"

"They're looking for something. Some sort of tablet. I don't know-"

Cas moved forward, eyes wide. He grabbed the vampire by the shoulders, forcing her to look at him. "Which tablet?"

The vampire stared at him in confusion and fear. "I don't know, they didn't tell me."

"Where are they looking for it?"

"Lots of places. Deserts mostly, but everywhere they've looked was abandoned. Uninhabited. I don't understand it."

Cas drew back, but still looked worried. Dean tugged at his arm, pulling him close so that he could rub his arm comfortingly. Cas gave him a thankful look, but it didn't seem to help much.

Sam frowned, confused. "Who's she?" The vampire refused to look at him, shifting nervously. Sam rolled his eyes. "Don't play dumb. You said that _she_ wanted you to kill hunters." The vampire avoided his eyes, refusing to speak. Sam sighed. "Okay Dean, I think it's time we-"

"You can threaten me all you want, but it's not gonna work." The vampire spoke with an eerie calm. "She's scarier than you'll ever be. Stronger too. She's going to crush you into dust while the whole world screams." She smiled smugly at Sam and Dean's stunned faces.

Cas was not as stunned, nor was he impressed. Anger twisting his face, Cas marched over to the vampire and forced his hand into her, touching her soul. The vampire screamed horrifically as Dean and Sam jumped in alarm. " _Adrienne, it's Adrienne_!"

Castiel stopped, allowing the monster to whimper in pain for a moment before pressing his hand to her forehead and smiting her. Dean and Sam turned away as the white light filled the room. When it was done, Dean made a disgusted face at the smell of burnt flesh. Cas turned back to Dean. "Are you alright?

Dean looked at his angel boyfriend with a dumbfounded expression. "Me? Cas, you just killed one of our only leads!"

"She wouldn't have told us anything else."

Dean rolled his eyes. "Clearly."

Before either of them could escalate the situation, Sam but in. "What are the tablets?"

Cas looked away from them, frowning worriedly. "Nothing probably. Certainly not something that Adrienne could find or use."

"Cas," Dean said, "Don't play games with me. What are they?"

Cas looked at him uncertainly, sighing when he realized he would give in. "They're clay tablets that were written by the Scribe of God, Metatron. No one knows where they are anymore, but there was one for angels and another for demons. I know there are more, but I don't know what for. They ones for angels and demons hold instructions for opening and closing the Gates of Heaven and Hell, respectively. If Adrienne gets them, she could let all the demons out of Hell and shut all the angels out of Heaven."

"You've got to be kidding me," Dean said, "This is fucking ridiculous." Cas made a 'don't blame me face', to which Dean sighed in response. "Okay, so how do we stop her?"

"Well no one knows where the tablets are hidden, so our best hope would be to either stop her from getting them or getting them from her once she already has them, although neither seem likely."

"So you're saying Adrienne's gonna win?"

"I'm saying that she is more likely to win than us."


End file.
